


Just like Heaven

by Avaetin



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Jason being a boss in handling Nico... somewhat, M/M, Mentioned Character Death, Moving On, Spirit!Nico, Thanatos/Bianca di Angelo, children and siblings Hazel and Maria di Angelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-04-29 03:59:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5115032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avaetin/pseuds/Avaetin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Listen to me. You may have fantasized quite convincingly that you rented an apartment that belongs to someone else.”</p><p>By then, Jason was absolutely prepared to chuck the pillow he had fisted on one of his hands onto the young man’s features, regardless of how awfully alluring those winsome features were. Whether Nico was an apparition or a mere figment of his mind, the Italian has got to go.</p><p>Jason just wanted to be alone, but the apparition of the name Nico would simply not leave the apartment which he claimed was his.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys have yet to watch the actual movie and happened to read this, then please don’t watch the movie yet. /sweatdrops/ If you have, please do not push your expectations high.
> 
> This work might contain up to 4 chapters only.
> 
> This work is both available on my tumblr and fanfiction account.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and its characters for they belong to Rick Riordan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys have yet to watch the actual movie and happened to read this, then please don’t watch the movie yet. /sweatdrops/ If you have, please do not push your expectations high.
> 
> This work will contain up to 5 chapters only.
> 
> This work is both available on my tumblr and fanfiction account.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and its characters for they belong to Rick Riordan.

_“Some people are destined to meet in unconventional ways, under unprecedented circumstances. Yet, every predestined meeting occur for a reason, and what comes of it is up to our own hands.”_

* * *

 

“Let me ask you a series of rational questions. Now, I expect you to answer to each with complete honesty and certainty.”

There was  _nothing_ rational of the situation, yet he was fairly certain that he was highly obliged to accept the terms, regardless of his stand.

“Ask away,” he muttered.

A willowy and winsome Italian man – adorning a pristine white long-sleeved shirt and fitting black pants – named Nico who was presumably close to his age of twenty-seven rested casually against a beige chaise adjacent to the queen-sized bed which he currently occupied. Under normal circumstances, indifference might have been his common response. However, given the circumstance by which the man was a short-tempered and wandering figment on some twisted corners of his imagination who claimed to own this  _supposedly_  gorgeous apartment he had rented, Jason was by all means  _rationally_ uneasy.

The sheer fact that said figment of his imagination was by all means unnecessarily tormenting him while persistently insisting that he was an existent individual grated Jason’s nerves relentlessly. An actual tangible individual was  _not_  supposed to appear and disappear conveniently; not when Jason ascertained of attaching locks to the front door once he got a hold of a few thereafter the first instance he met this apparition.

How was he supposed to start on a clean slate when predicaments attached themselves to him like a plague?

“Has your recent alcohol consumption increased?” Nico inquired, those deep dark brown eyes of his boring against Jason’s resting frame.

“I consume alcohol in moderation,” Jason answered, his voice laced with the slightest hint of exasperation.

“Are you hearing voices or seeing things that are not quite real?” Nico persisted, now standing up and pacing about the room with a speculative expression.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” was the remark, as Jason lifted the plush pillow from his head, dejectedly placing it onto the side before ruffling his blond locks.

Nico nodded to himself at that as he stepped close to the bottom of the bed, causing the blond male to stiffen at the proximity that was far too close – despite the respectable distance – for his liking.

“Well then, have you recently sought consult from a mental healthcare professional?” Nico pressed, eyes narrowing into slits, his expression scrunched up in deep thought.

“What? How did you know that? Stay away from me,” Jason blurted out, pressing back onto the headboard so as to get as much distance between himself and the Italian.

“Do you often feel paranoid? Like people are out to get you?”

“Why are you asking me so many questions?” was the exasperated reply.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Nico muttered to himself as he seated himself at the bottom of the bed, his expression seeming almost sympathetic, if not for the triumphant gleam on his eyes. His pale, thin lips parted once more, him speaking slowly and with weighed caution. “Listen to me. You may have fantasized quite convincingly that you rented an apartment that belongs to someone else.”

By then, Jason was  _absolutely_  prepared to chuck the pillow he had fisted on one of his hands onto the young man’s features, regardless of how  _awfully_  alluring those winsome features were. Whether Nico was an apparition or a mere figment of his mind, the Italian has  _got_  to go.

“I think you need to come to the facts that you are mentally ill,” Nico drawled, eyes shifting down for a mere second to the parquet floor before meeting his electric blue eyes once more. “As you can see, this  _is_  my apartment.”

The Italian gestured at the entirety of the lavish room.

“The pillow you are hogging is mine. Look under; there should be a stain on the cover from that one time I spilled pomegranate juice on it.” Jason bothered to clarify it, and begrudgingly accepted that the apparition was speaking some truth. “These sheets you are soiling are from Oceanus’ Beddings. I still have the receipt, first drawer on the nightstand. And that picture–”

The Italian trailed off, staring at the mahogany table beside the bed, cluttered with cheap junk food packaging and a can of half-consumed beer, noting the distinct lack of the said picture. Jason cringed internally as those dark brown eyes bore onto his frame, a chilling glare fixated solely on him.

“What did you do to my picture?” Nico demanded, voice dripping with venom as he arose from the bed, brushing his pants meticulously as if coming into contact with it – at least in the presence of the blond male – was unsanitary.

“Look,” Jason held up his hands as if to placate the furious man. “When I moved into this apartment – which I can vouch for with a couple of signed documents – there was no picture here whatsoever.”

“You know what, I can tolerate  _thinly_  your presence in my apartment, but you’ve gone too far with meddling with my personal items,” Nico stated with vehemence, reaching for the house phone amongst the clutter on the table. “I’m calling the police.”

“Wait!”

But as Nico reached for the phone, neither were spared from being flabbergasted when those thin, almost bony fingers slipped past through the device. There was a fleeting silence for a few seconds before a frustrated growl resounded through the room as the Italian tried to grasp the contraption once more, only to conclude upon the same results.

“What did you do to my phone? Is this some kind of prank?” Jason planned to speak up, to  _finally_  explain to the young man that he was likely nothing more than an apparition, but he was cut off with a sharp response. “You know what? Forget it. I’m using the phone on the kitchen.”

When Nico stormed out of the room with a distinct lack of clacking noises from those expensive black shoes snapping against the parquet floor, Jason resigned once more underneath the covers of his – no,  _Nico’s_  bed with high certainty that the Italian would leave him be for the rest of that night.

Enduring the presence of another individual – an apparition at that – when all the blond male desired was to bask in isolation was unnecessarily draining him. When Jason Grace decided that it was of best interest to move from Washington D.C. to New York, sharing his residence with a mutually unwanted individual was never a part of his itinerary. When he decided to transfer to New York, it was with that belief that perhaps withdrawing himself from the prying presence of his and  _her_  family, and rejoining that functional and socializing world of his acquaintances might eventually provide him a dash at reality that would allow him to regain his bearings once more. But, no. He had unintentionally gnawed much of what his palate was capable of handling.

The first time that he had interacted with Nico – last name of said individual remained as a matter of question – had been utterly disastrous on either side. Considering the importance of first impressions, Jason merely shuddered at the impression he provided of the young man when he had only been clad of boxers then, blond locks dishevelled and a great portion of his naked torso dripping wet then as he had just stepped out of the showers. The sudden jump scare of finding a stranger within his apartment, regardless of how winsome said stranger was, was adequate to cause Jason to spray the contents of the can of beer he had on one of his hands onto the parquet floor. To say that Nico had been pissed then was an understatement.

Their conversation since then had consisted of nothing more than Nico persisting that the apartment was still his, and that the furniture that adorned it was entirely his. As much as Jason was intrigued that the Italian was highly knowledgeable of the furniture, listing it off from his head with a glint of pride in his eyes, it would take a whole lot more of interior décor knowledge to get Jason to believe his claim. At least, not when his real estate agent, a polite young lady by the name of Silena Beauregard, insisted with firm conviction that the apartment was uninhabited for almost three months before he occupied it.

Jason questioned once of the motive for renting the apartment, but the agent simply responded with minimum details. “Family problems” and “tragic accident” slipped along the lines of the conversation, and when Jason decided to further investigate the matter just so as to pry the young man from this apartment, from  _his_ life, he was answered with the words of “a matter of confidentiality”. Least to say, he was highly dissatisfied.

It was not as if Nico was completely intolerable, though he did repetitively grated on Jason’s nerves when their topic revolved of the claim on the apartment. He had paid a good fortune of it, and he was not about to let go of such a gorgeous residence. Nico was far from being completely intolerable, but with his state of mind, Jason simply cannot shoulder the burden of having to interact with another individual – much less an apparition. It was not Nico’s fault. It was his for the most part.

A dull ache stung his chest at the sheer reminder of his state. Before he could possibly dwell on it or have Nico barging into his room once more, Jason allowed for his eyelids to slip close, dreaming of no one and nothing in particular.

* * *

 

“The power of Christ compels you! The power of Christ compels you!”

The approach Jason took might be viewed as desperate, but with the apparition – he deemed it as so – that was of Nico who persisted that he was not about to leave the world of the living pushed him to take such desperate measure.

“The power of Christ compels you!”

Alright, maybe leaning more to absurdity than desperation.

“He can’t even see me,” was the exasperated remark of Nico, glaring at the continuous shower of  _holy_  water against his parquet floor.

“A little more to the left,” Jason grumbled to the priest, his right hand copying that of the priest, but with much force and exaggeration, which the priest followed.

“You’re mopping that up,” Nico stated bluntly, turning away from the scene as he trudged towards the dining area, blatantly ignoring the frustrated noises that was emitting from Jason’s lips.

Calling a local priest might have been a bad idea in his book, if Jason were to ever categorize the list of bad ideas that he had in his lifetime, excluding those that he was a forced accomplice. But Jason was not mentally prepared of a local hotline that could possibly address wandering spirits.  _Ghost exterminators_ , Jason mused to himself as he mopped the water from the floor once the priest saw himself off from his residence.  _A ghost exterminator hotline really would sound good right now._

But as there was none of which, Jason settled for alternatives.

“They’re going to set off the smoke detector,” Nico had breathed, sitting casually beside him as an old Chinese lady by the name of Grandma Zhang and some Chinese women roamed free around his residence with candle lights, performing a ceremony which Jason – for the life of him – could not come to comprehend.

Seconds thereafter, a shrill ringing and a chorus of exclamations resounded throughout the apartment, and the heavy clacks of shoes against the floor followed as the Chinese women dashed towards the entrance. The two males just stared blankly at each other as the entire apartment, as well as Jason himself, was drenched completely in a matter of seconds.

If there was anything that would indicate that Nico found amusement in his predicament, Jason could decipher none from those cold eyes, which seemed to harden further at the sight of the drenched apartment. Nico’s frustrations were unjustifiable, Jason thought to himself. He  _should_  be the one frustrated of the situation,  _not_  the apparition. Not only was he temporarily – hopefully – stuck with an unreasonable apparition, but he was burdened with the task of shouldering the consequences that followed through with these bad ideas which he deemed as solutions.

There was no guidebook on ridding one of wandering apparitions, and as much as Jason had browsed through the internet of possible solutions to placating a wandering spirit so that they might cross over to the  _“light”_ , the only general conclusion was to reason with the spirit and to slowly ease them into accepting their demise.  _An impossible feat with Nico,_  Jason almost felt like resigning his rights to the apartment.

Ghostbusters probably topped the list of his accumulated bad ideas; the one sole idea which Nico openly snickered at him for once said ghostbusters ultimately failed to accomplish the task. Seeking assistance from ghostbusters might as well be the most desperate idea he has ever conceived in his mind.

“I feel like I should just give this apartment up, Leo. I don’t even care anymore of the amount I rented it for, at this point,” Jason sighed, standing in front a Latino of average height, his elfish features framed by wild and untamed curls.

“Ghostbusters are products of fiction, man. What you need is a psychic. Hey! Maybe I can try talking to this ghost of yours,” the man named Leo suggested, a cheeky grin stretching his lips.

“Don’t be stupid. He can’t see me either. For some hideous reason, only you can,” Nico stated from beside Leo before Jason could come to respond, openly rolling his eyes as he found the thought absurdly ridiculous.

For once, Jason found himself agreeing to the apparition on that one. He was not even offended of the comment. Perhaps finding a stupidity in an idea is their first common ground, though in Jason’s defense, the last few days wasted on bad ideas were solely products of his desperation to rid himself of the Italian.

“Okay,” Leo started, blatantly ignoring the expression on his companion’s features that just screamed a  _No_. “There is something. Definitely a presence.”

“Oh, how original. Tell me more,” Nico mocked, sitting cross-legged beside the Latino, reflecting the same disinterested expression that was on the blond’s features.

“It’s hostile. It wants you out of here,” Leo continued with a subtle frown, his eyes fixed intensely onto Jason, assessing him as if he were one of those complex projects that the Latino had been relentlessly working on.

The comment completely garnered the Italian’s attention as he shifted his body sideways, facing the Latino as if he were a fine specimen which he could dissect with his naked eyes alone.

“Actually, he’s not bad,” Nico blurted out, a look of fascination on his features.

“You should move, dude,” Leo finished lamely, reaching for the cold can of cola on the coffee table, the lack of a coaster leaving a circular print which Jason was positive he would hear from Nico later.

But what got to the blond man most was the suggestion. After all, he had called upon one of his closest friend to ease him into rejecting the idea of moving out of the apartment. Now Leo was asking him to move out?

“… I should move?” Jason questioned, a hint of disbelief in his tone of voice, ignoring the apparition’s complimentary words of  _‘I like him’_  that was directed to the Latino. Not that Nico could blame his disbelief. If their positions were reversed, Nico was certain that he might have had snapped in the blond’s position. “Why should I move?”

“Can’t you feel it, man? There’s this like cancer-causing ray of spirit hate directed towards your body,” Leo explained, his arms flailing slightly that he almost spilled cola onto the couch.

“Can you  _please_  just tell him to move onto the light, Leo? I’d be forever indebted to you if you manage to do so,” Jason sighed, massaging his temples as he felt an oncoming headache. He had wanted a back-up, not a team-up against him.

“This guy has a gift,” Nico commented, temporarily ignoring Jason’s statement as he smoothly arose from his seat. “And I told you, I can’t go. There is no light. I’m not dead, okay?”

Nico was doing those exaggerated gestures; ones he usually would do when he and Jason were arguing of every simple and miniscule matter. It was  _frustratingly_  adorable, because as much as it was adorable in nature, Jason was firmly convinced on hating the Italian apparition.

“Look, I don’t know what kind of conversation you two are having, but I can tell you that he cannot go into the light because he is most likely alive. Trust my instincts, dude. They’re always right.” Leo added the last bit before Jason could question what he meant. Nico openly gloated of the fact that a mere stranger was backing up his point.

“But you…” The Latino continued, his tone definitely serious. “You’re like death reincarnate. You didn’t even show up for that date Percy set up for you three months ago. You’ve got to let  _her_  go, Grace. It’s been two years.”

The sudden change and breach of a forbidden topic immediately caused for Jason’s mood to go downhill. His usually composed features altered to a darker expression, and his entire frame went completely rigid. He noticed that Nico was attentively paying attention to his reactions, undeniably trying to decipher what was irking Jason so easily; something which Nico accomplished only to a certain extent.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Leo,” was the stiff reply.

“Oh, I get it,” Nico voiced out, and Jason was partially certain that Nico did not understand what the situation was. “You were dumped. Probably for some other guy that doesn’t have the couch fused to his ass.”

Usually, Jason would have dismissed those offensive comments with a frown or glare or just indifference, knowing that they were merely attempts to get him to bolt out of the apartment door. However, with the combined insistence that he moved out and the breach of that forbidden topic, Jason snapped.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Shut up, Nico,” Jason warned, not even glancing towards the direction of the Italian, hoping that his tone would make it crystalline clear for Nico not to press further with his infuriating comments.

It did not.

“What?” Nico hissed in anger, yet there was a sadistic pleasure in his expression, emphasized with how those full, thin lips curled in mockery at the blond. “You bring Father Brunner, Grandma Zhang and her minions, and a bunch of wannabe  _ghostbusters_  to get rid of me, but I just talked about you getting dumped once and–“

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Shut up!” Jason bellowed, glaring menacingly at the Italian who faltered for a brief second with his words.

Jason gratefully took upon that opportunity and stormed off the living room, ignoring the worried calls from the Latino, who had confusion etched onto his features.

“Jason, wait! I’m sorry!” Leo called after him, but he was certain that Jason would have either dismissed or not heard at all. With a small sigh, he turned to face forward once more, glancing about for a second, before looking towards the direction which he assumed Nico was situated.

“Look, a word of advice, wise guy: Show some respect for the  _actual_  dead. If you can’t, then please just don’t press on that subject with Jason. Okay? Great, thanks!” Leo chirped, standing up with a sigh as he headed towards the front door.

Only then did it occur to Nico that his offensive comment  _might_  actually have weighed more than what he intended for it to be. Hearing the Latino’s statements only proved how utterly wrong and inhumane his comment had been.

* * *

 

It was an obvious and utterly rational guess that Jason was bound to be musing to himself at the rooftop, likely trying to cool off after his momentary loss of composure. It probably did not make matters easier for the blond if Nico’s words played like a mocking broken record in his head, the latter assumed as he ascended the small flight of stairs that led to the rooftop.

Just as he had guessed, Jason was leaning against the ledge of the rooftop, partially facing away from the Italian. With the city lights gleaming against his blond locks and onto his features, for a second, he seemed almost ethereal to Nico, who immensely gazed at the golden hue of his disheveled hair.

Whether Jason noticed his presence or not, Nico was uncertain of.

“Jason?” Nico called out to the blond man, but was met with silence in return. The only indication that he had been heard was the subtle tensing of that Adonis physique.

“I’m sorry,” Nico murmured, more so to himself, as if he was ashamed of admitting his mistake. Truly, he was, but knowing the degree of how offensive he had come across just made his apology that much insufficient in his mind.

“It occurred to me now that I… probably don’t know you that well, as I had assumed,” the Italian continued, cautiously stepping closer to Jason who had not moved an inch. For once, Nico was uneasy with the silent treatment as he gingerly fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

“I got this place with the roof.” At that point, Nico was certain that he was babbling, but that statement – that slight change of topic – garnered Jason to  _finally_ turn to face him. “Was going to do a whole garden out here eventually… I think.”

The entire situation was frustrating. As much as he convinced himself that he was not dead, as much as Leo had backed his claim up, no words could completely assure him that he still physically existed. Assumptions were as far as he could possibly claim, and the sheer thought that he might possibly be eternally stranded on the world of the living as a wandering spirit had him swallowing a lump on his throat. Recalling little to none of his memories did not make the situation any tolerable.

“Piper. Her name was Piper,” Jason cut through his thoughts.

Nico did not even realize that his eyes had darted sideways, but when he turned to face Jason, his breath audibly hitched at that pained expression that was visible in that forced smile.

“Was Piper…?” Nico breathed out, trailing off once he realized that he might have been potentially prying when he should not.

“She was my wife,” Jason simply answered, and there was a certain coldness in his tone which caused Nico not to comment further on the matter.

Wife.  _Was_. Dead wife then, Nico assumed upon recalling the words which Leo had used.  _Actual dead._   _Two years._  If Nico could be certain of one thing, it was that Jason must have loved the woman unconditionally to be hung up on her demise for that long, and somehow that settled badly with Nico, with what he convinced himself as sheer guilt of his insensitive comment.

“Can we talk rationally now? Like adults,” Nico inquired, his tone low yet serious.

An exasperated sigh was what he received from Jason who promptly turned around to face him, his expression guarded yet interested with whatever proposition he had in mind, if his inquisitive expression were anything to go by.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Nico murmured, more so to himself. “I realized now how badly you think you need to be alone, and I will respect that given… your circumstance.”

Jason was about to comment, but Nico raised a hand to cut him off before he could utter anything, silently demanding that he be allowed to finish.

“I still hang onto the possibility that I am not dead, and Leo’s words just gave me a little encouragement that that self-fed assumption was actually true. But I can’t back things with words alone,” Nico voiced out his thoughts for once, a grimace crossing his features. “I hope I am not dead. But if I am…”

Jason silently clicked his tongue, partially understanding then where Nico’s persistence of being alive was coming from. Least to say, Jason wanted to believe as well that the Italian man had a physical embodiment somewhere if that theory, were it to be proven, would remove that unwelcomed grimace on that winsome features.

“You want to be alone, and I just need to confirm who I am and if I am alive or not,” Nico simplified their predicament. “So here is my proposition: You help me find out who I am and my status, and I will leave you alone completely thereafter, relinquishing the rights of my apartment fully to you.”

“Is there any catch to this?” Jason questioned, electric blue eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Nico shook his head.

“No. I would do absolutely  _everything_  to finally know my actual identity,” Nico answered truthfully. “We can’t shake hands on it, and I know you have every right to doubt my words, but we don’t actually have the luxury to do those fancy lie detector tests.”

“You expect me to play Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson with you?”

A smile tugged those full, thin lips upwards, and Jason mentally cursed himself for how that small gesture had butterflies fluttering on his stomach.

“Yes, but I would be Sherlock in this. Undeniably so. You will be Dr. Watson, my ever  _cooperative_  “friend” who would  _willingly_  aid me in this quest of finding my identity,” Nico mused, the amused smile curling further upon his lips when Jason chuckled at his twisted logic. “So, do we have a deal?”

Little did Jason know that his agreement to the matter would forever leave a permanent impression to how his life would eventually shape to be. At that moment, blindly trusting the words of the wandering apparition, Jason found himself nodding in agreement.

“It’s a deal, Nico.”

_._

_._

_._

_Continua_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you guys think. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Look. You have two realities to choose from,” Nico started, his serious tone laced with just the barest hint of sarcasm. “First one being, a man has come into your life in a very unconventional way, and he happens to need your help. The second being that you’re an insane person and you are standing out on the hallway right now talking to yourself.”
> 
> Jason cringed at his choice of words, but could not find a fault or a ground which he could possibly debate on. In the eyes of every other individuals, Jason was sure that Nico’s claim was true – that he was by himself, talking to an intangible presence like he was fresh from an asylum.
> 
> “I think I prefer the first one,” Jason murmured to himself, ignoring as much as he was capable of the gloating expression that crossed the Italian male’s features.
> 
> “Splendid. Let’s find out who I am,” Nico concluded firmly, closing the discussion just as the maple interior door slowly swung back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be 5 chapters.
> 
> This is an adaptation of the movie "Just like Heaven". If you guys have yet to watch the actual movie and happened to read this, then please don’t watch the movie yet. /sweatdrops/ If you have, please do not push your expectations high.
> 
> This work is both available on my tumblr and fanfiction account.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and its characters for they belong to Rick Riordan.

* * *

_“You came into my life, and I could never have prepared myself for what change you brought into it.”_

* * *

Winging it was definitely a Sherlock Holmes style, Jason deduced to himself on the first day of their deemed quest on finding Nico’s identity. Winging it, however, was not the worst yet the only option that had been available for them to claim.

It was rational that they had started off by questioning the tenants under the same establishment, yet the residents provided none too useful information as none was aware that Nico even had resided previously on the gorgeous apartment. Jason had believed that their chances were high, yet it seemed to be quite the opposite as some claimed that they knew not of a tenant – an  _Italian_   _male_  tenant at that – that used to reside in the apartment Jason now occupied.

“Great. It seemed as if I was already a ghost before I was even dead,” Nico grumbled to him as they trudged to the next apartment door, Jason knocking firmly onto the door.

“I’m the worst person you could have asked to help you,” Jason sighed, running a hand through his dishevelled blond locks. “Are you sure you should even be asking me for help?”

Nico arched one of his brows out of incredulity.

“We have a deal, and it’s not like anyone can see or hear me aside from – well – you,” Nico casually replied, crossing his arms across his chest as Jason heaved a dejected sigh.

“Look. You have two realities to choose from,” Nico started, his serious tone laced with just the barest hint of sarcasm. “First one being, a man has come into your life in a very unconventional way, and he happens to need your help. The second being that you’re an insane person and you are standing out on the hallway right now talking to yourself.”

Jason cringed at his choice of words, but could not find a fault or a ground which he could possibly debate on. In the eyes of every other individuals, Jason was sure that Nico’s claim was true – that he was by himself, talking to an intangible presence like he was fresh from an asylum.

“I think I prefer the first one,” Jason murmured to himself, ignoring as much as he was capable of the gloating expression that crossed the Italian male’s features.

“Splendid. Let’s find out who I am,” Nico concluded firmly, closing the discussion just as the maple interior door slowly swung back.

A lithe and gorgeous Asian woman with dark hair in ringlets pulled up in a high ponytail, warm brown eyes and a perfect makeup, adorning a tight orange tank top andshorts greeted them – or at the very least, Jason – with a wide smile. In Nico’s perspective, she seemed decently presentable and perhaps sociably better than the rest of the tenants, though he questioned the need to apply makeup if she had the intention to exercise. She was stereotypically ideal – physically speaking – yet Nico was neither enamored nor interested in the least bit with her.

“Hi, can I help you?” the woman inquired, though there was that twinkle in her eyes which induced Nico to narrow his own dark brown eyes.

“Hi. I’m Jason Grace. I’m a new tenant here,” Jason briefly introduced himself, offering the most polite smile he could possibly offer.

It might have been a grimace instead, yet the woman simply reached out her hand for a handshake.

“Hi,  _hon_! I’m Drew Tanaka. Nice to meet you. Come on in!” Drew offered, opening the door wide open for the blond male, that mischievous twinkle in her eyes ever so present.

Nico audibly clicked his tongue in displeasure.

“Uh, no. This will just take a second. I have a question,” Jason responded, seeming slightly at unease at the blatant disapproval that was etched onto the Italian’s features as he scrutinized the woman, seeming to morbidly dissect her with his naked eyes alone. “Did the apartment upstairs belong to a young Italian male?”

Drew did not even seem dejected at the refusal, her body leaning against the frame of the door while casually playing with her hair as she pondered of the blond’s words.

“I think there was somebody up there…” the Asian woman breathed out slowly, as if she were still in deep thought. “Oh, but he was like totally anti-social, you know. Kind of like a male version of a cat lady. But without any cats, right?”

That inadvertently induced a small laughter from Jason, which then caused the Asian woman to laugh in return. That predatory gleam in her eyes, coupled with her offhanded comment had Nico noting down in his books that he would surely come into terms of strangling the woman once he had his physical body back.

“I think we’re done here. Let’s go,  _Watson_ ,” Nico growled, promptly turning away and cutting off Jason’s short-lived amusement at that accurate description of Nico.

“Okay, thank you, Drew.” Jason was about to follow, but was firmly pulled back by a soft and feminine hand.

“Look,” Drew breathed, tugging at his arm firmly, and almost digging her perfectly manicured nails onto his skin with her grip. “This may sound so retro… But I’ve got a window I can’t get to open.”

The Italian man immediately faced towards her direction, his arms crossing around his chest indignantly as he practically stomped back towards his former position.

“She has  _got_  to be kidding.”

“Well… have you used a screwdriver to jam it open?” Jason inquired, wincing as she finally released her grip, and in unease of the predatory gleam in her eyes.

It made Jason feel as if he was a piece of A-grade meat in the eyes of a ravenous vulture.

“Oh, I’ve tried it. Won’t budge,” Drew heaved an exaggerated sigh, shrugging her shoulders in a sign of mock defeat.

Scratch the idea of coming into terms of strangling her. Nico was fairly certain that he might have done so by then if only he had a physical and tangible form that could enable him to wrap his arms around that slender neck. He did not notice that he had been growling loudly, and that only served to increase Jason’s unease at his questionable behavior.

“I’d like to help, but I’ve got dinner plans tonight,” Jason lamely excused himself, taking a good few steps back before she could possibly sink her talons into his arms once more.

Drew did not seem to mind his retreat, though she followed his every movement intently.

“Well, I’d like that dessert,” was the flirtatious comment.

“I just threw up in my mouth,” Nico dully remarked, an expression of disbelief in his features, which was promptly wiped away as he pointedly looked into electric blue irises. “Let’s go, _Watson_ , unless you want me to possess you and make you a fool in front of her.”

At the threat, Jason promptly bid his goodbye, trailing after the seething apparition who glanced back occasionally just to ensure that he was following. It was a slightly refreshing sight, compared to that of the usual nonchalance or sarcasm that Nico would throw his way. Those dark brown eyes were fascinating beyond any comparison when they glinted with emotions, and Jason found himself basking in the rare moments that something could provoke an emotion from the Italian.

If Nico had been tangible, the heels of his shoes might have clacked noisily as he marched off atop the stairs, grumbling and uttering strings of curses in Italian which Jason did not understand. But it was fascinating nonetheless, how those words just slipped naturally past those full lips, uttered like a croon despite the vehemence laced with them.

“Well… I guess that’s as far as we could possibly be productive for today,” Jason offered as they stopped just before the apartment door.

“More for you perhaps,” Nico grumbled, his features scrunched up in a grimace as he casually leaned against the wall. “Got yourself a date and a potential bed partner for the night… probably. I guess I could see where you straight guys are coming from, with all those voluptuous appeal of the female population and –”

“Woah,” Jason arched one of his brows in disbelief at that statement, before he raised his hands in defense. “Don’t know what you’re talking about,  _Sherlock_ , but if it’s about Drew, I am not the least bit interested with her.”

“Not the point. I was contesting the preference of straight guys. And she was completely prowling at you. Did you not even find her being all predatory on you?” Nico dismissed his statements with a wave of his hand.

“Some male individuals actually find  _predatory_  an appealing trait. And for the record, I don’t base attraction by gender,” Jason heaved a small sigh, rummaging through his pockets for his keys to the apartment. “I’ve dated a fair share of the male population before I finally settled down.”

Nico blinked at the confession, his expression becoming completely slack in a matter of seconds as he stared in mild disbelief at the preoccupied blond. If Jason had noticed of his momentary loss of composure, Nico could only assume that he had not as he was grumbling to himself while tirelessly searching for his keys.

“… Great. I locked myself out of my apartment.”

“There’s a spare key underneath the fire extinguisher,” Nico murmured quietly.

Only then did Jason notice that Nico was staring intently at him, assessing him –  _scrutinizing_ him – as if he were a new specimen or a species that was only recently discovered. Conclusively, it unnerved Jason.

“Why are you looking at me as if you want to dissect me?” Jason voiced out, cautiously taking a few steps back as he reached for the fire extinguisher conveniently placed on a suspended wooden shelf. “Was it because of what I said about dating men before? My bisexuality?”

Silently lifting it up, Jason firmly grasped the spare key and twisted it in his free hand.

“I would be a hypocrite if I were to judge you on that,” the Italian huffed, rolling his eyes at his defensive stance.

“Wait, so you’re also –“

“I’m not attracted to the female population. At all,” was the firm statement. “That much, I know of myself. Funny how the one thing I find degrading to admit to society just happened to be the only fact of myself that I know.”

Jason opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off immediately.

“Before you can freak out upon finding out that you are residing in a homosexual Italian apparition’s apartment, try not to feed your ego too much by thinking that I would harass you as you sleep. You’re not my type,” Nico huffed indignantly, looking sideways and blatantly ignoring the blond male.

“You’re testing Leo’s belief that I could change any guy’s mind of that, deemed,  _debatable_ matter,” Jason offered with a sheepish smile as he unlocked the door to the apartment. “Any chance I could get to change your mind?”

But Nico simply clicked his tongue at that, and Jason could not figure if he had offended the young man as he had his head turned away from his sight.

“Dream on, Grace. Grab a jacket or a coat. It’s too early to turn in and call it a day. Let’s walk around town and see if anything could possibly jog my memory,  _Watson_ ,” Nico demanded, walking back the way he came from as he descended the stairs and headed towards the front door of the establishment.

For a while, Jason just gazed after the retreating figure, wondering if he had uttered something wrong that might or might not have offended the Italian. Yet, seeing as Nico was uncooperative as he was capable of in forbidding Jason from getting a firm grasp of his mood and personal boundaries, Jason was left to make the assumptions himself.

Making a quick grab of his jacket, Jason rushed after the apparition. For a while, he wondered ever so briefly though… When Nico had turned away, was it just a trick of the eye or was the Italian’s expression actually flushed for a second?

* * *

“What do you exactly hope to accomplish by wandering out here with no specific destination in mind, Nico?”

“I’m Sherlock in this quest, and you are Watson. Do not question my position in this matter,” Nico responded with a frown as they walked side-by-side along the sidewalk under the glaring sunlight.

New York had always been crowded, that much Jason was certain of when he decided to move into the state; strategically. True, it placed a distance between him and his deceased wife’s family and inched him close to where most of his acquaintances resided, but in the hustle-and-bustle that was of New York’s streets, it was fairly easy to distance himself, however he deemed as convenient.

That was applicable to that moment as he weaved through the growing crowd with the apparition, as none seemed to pay mind to him despite that he might be speaking in a loud voice to an intangible presence. In the midst of all the noise, his voice seemed to be partially drowned out.

Jason and Nico had been weaving through the streets for at least an hour by then, once stopping at a dry cleaning service where Nico partially remembered visiting on a weekly basis. Entering the establishment might not have been the best idea either had so far, as Jason had to constrict – in a way – and calm the Italian male down when the attendant at the counter mentioned of having donated to the homeless Nico’s  _Armani_ pants. If Jason was sure of one thing, it was that that brand was extremely expensive, and Nico was certain of that as well. Hell, Jason had been inches from trying to prevent him from strangling the clueless attendant, though the restriction might be unnecessary as the Italian was intangible to everything.

“Jason, stop.”

The sudden demand had the blond glancing up from the pavement, stripping his mind off of his personal musings, as he lifted his electric blue eyes at the sign of the classy restaurant they found themselves standing in front of.  _Demeter_ , the sign read. Jason dared not to glance unnecessarily at the interior decors, knowing that the place – by the elegant vibe that it radiated off – that a simple dinner there was highly expensive.

“I recognize this place. I love this restaurant,” Nico breathed, passing through the closed double doors of the restaurant and seeming unfazed of it.

With a slight tilt of his head, Jason followed shortly thereafter, minding just a second of how inappropriate his attire was.

The interior was nothing short of being luxurious and elegant, as Jason had assumed it was. The interior décor that was themed after Olympus, the dwelling of the Greek gods and goddesses, was lovely and utterly flawless, and probably too much for Jason’s liking.

“I wanted to eat here. I remember wanting to eat here once. I never did get to do so,” Nico voiced out as he glanced around the restaurant, taking in every single detail that there was of the rich environment.

“What? You can afford an expensive apartment and clothing from Armani, but you can’t eat here? Is the payment here solid gold bars?” Jason wondered out loud, suddenly feeling that he indeed did not belong in such a classy environment.

“No… I just never got to do so. I can’t remember why. I remember that I was always too busy to do so,” Nico murmured, more so to himself, before promptly turning around and heading for the exit as a waiter approached his companion, seeming disdainful as he judged his unbefitting appearance.

“Come on, let’s go.”

A loud clatter from behind had them pause as Jason reached a hand out to the door, and they chanced a glance back just as a couple of civilians crowded over an unconscious man sprawled out on the maroon carpeted floor. By the looks of it, and judging from the panicked expressions that dawned upon the crowd’s features, the man seemed to be not breathing at all.

Despite the situation not being of his concern, Nico found himself staring intently at the scene. There was a faint buzzing on his head, and there was something that wanted to slip from his tongue which he could not fathom what of.

“Someone call an ambulance! Wait, is there a doctor in here?” A woman voiced out in a loud, yet shaky tone, glancing frantically about the sea of faces that surrounded the unconscious man. “We need a doctor in here now!”

“Feel his chest,” Nico blurted all of a sudden, his eyes fixated onto the unconscious man on the maroon carpeted floor.

He was unsure of why he was suddenly sprouting such nonsense, but he had never been certain of anything in the past few days than what he was trying to accomplish at that moment.

“What?” Jason questioned, eyes wide with disbelief.

“Check his chest and feel if it’s bloated,” Nico insisted, giving his companion a meaningful stare before walking forward, slipping past the bodies that crowded over the civilian.

“Excuse me. Pardon me, I need to… feel his chest,” Jason spoke in a slightly louder volume as he pushed his way past through the crowd, almost stumbling to the ground next to the Italian male and the passed out man.

“Can you feel his ribs?” Nico inquired.

“No, but I can if I press down,” Jason murmured in a low voice, cautiously pressing his hands all over the civilian.

Jason inwardly mused if his actions were to be considered as a form of public harassment, and if he were to somehow be charged on court of inappropriate bodily contact.

“Tell them you need a sharp paring knife and a bottle of vodka,” was the instruction.

Scanning through the crowd, he glanced pointedly at whom he assumed to be the owner of the establishment, who was hunched over with that concerned and panicky expression written all over her features.

“I need a sharp paring knife… and a bottle of vodka,” Jason requested, hesitating towards the end yet actually managed to blurt it out.

One of the waitresses headed off with a nod, pushing carefully past the crowd as she made her way towards the kitchen area.

“What’s wrong with him?” the woman inquired, and Jason briefly made out her name on the golden nametag pinned onto her pristine clothing.  _Katie Gardner_.

“It’s a tension pneumothorax,” Nico answered, as if the woman was directly addressing to him.

“I think it’s a tension nemotaxer,” Jason stumbled upon the tongue-twister that was of the medical term, fighting off the urge to hide his face in his arms out of embarrassment.

“Pneumothorax,” Nico grunted.

“Pneumotaxer.”

“Pneumothorax!”

“Pneumothorman!”

“Nevermind,” Nico growled, dismissing Jason’s mistakes with a quick wave of his hand, as if the gesture could possibly erase the latter’s momentary session of self-induced embarrassment.

“What is it?” Katie inquired with a subtle frown, seeming to lean further towards the unconscious man, checking to see if he was still breathing.

“The air is escaping out of his lungs, into his chest.” Nico explained, keeping those sharp brown eyes onto the civilian while Jason provided the explanation word per word as Nico had said them.

“Open his shirt,” Nico instructed to Jason, and the latter did so, though with the slightest hint of hesitance.

“There’s a valve at the opening of the lungs. If it doesn’t close, it constricts the lungs and compresses the rest of the organs. Now, I want you to feel for his ribs again. A little bit lower.” Nico fixed Jason’s prying hands onto the body, pointing his hand at a spot slightly bit lower than where Jason’s had been wandering. “Spot between two ribs, do you feel that?”

“Yes,” Jason breathed out in a low voice, and he sounded almost breathless.

Nico belatedly noted how he seemed to be paling by the minute, but dismissed it at the moment.

“Okay. Splash some vodka on it and get the knife.”

The blood completely drained from Jason’s features at the last instruction. Swallowing the lump on his throat – which might as well have been bile – he spoke out once more in a loud voice, grateful that it sounded quite professional and not as shaky as his insides seemed to be at that moment.

“Can everybody please stand a little further? Just please give us more space for the patient to be able to breathe. Thank you.”

Yet, Nico was not buying any of which. The Italian was close to his side, far too close to be able to hear his shaky intake of breath, and feel that dragged release of a shaky sigh fanning against the skin of his right cheek.

“What on earth am I going to do with the knife?” Jason almost hissed from beside of him, doing what Nico had first instructed him to carry out and splashing a certain amount of vodka against the spot.

“You’re going to make an incision,” Nico stated, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“No. No, I’m not going to do this,” Jason hissed, resisting the urge to whimper his refusal out as he almost pulled back under the scrutiny of the crowd and Nico’s gaze boring solely onto him with fierce determination in his eyes.

“Jason, this is a life or death situation. Are you going to let this man die when you know that there is the possibility of helping him? You’re just going to make a small hole so that the air could be allowed to escape. So put the knife on that spot,” Nico growled out that last sentence.

“How do you know this?” Jason inquired, clasping firmly at the paring knife that his knuckles had turned white.

“I don’t know, just do it!”

Jason begrudgingly punctured a small hole onto the man’s skin, his electric blue eyes looking away once the blade had made contact with the skin. As quick as he had sunk the blade onto the skin, he pulled it out cautiously, worrying that he might be making the situation worst at that moment with his interference.

“Okay, put the pour of the vodka bottle in the hole that you made. It will keep the wound open so that the air can escape.”

When Jason did so, Nico could only watch in stunned fascination as the man’s chest slowly began to rise once more, moving in that even rhythm of breathing that he was ever so familiar with.

“He’s breathing…” Nico whispered, more so to himself.

“He’s breathing!” Jason gasped out, sitting back onto his heels as he gazed back and forth from the body and towards the crowd, a stunned expression on his pale features.

The man was alive. He had actually just saved a life. He knew of the medical procedure, and how to address the situation.

“I’m a doctor,” Nico realized with a small gasp, looking at Jason expectantly as if expecting the latter to come into the same conclusion as he had.

Yet, Jason was still partially stupefied, copying his words as if they were still the medical procedures which Nico had been instructing just a few moments ago.

“I’m a doctor,” Jason breathed out in a shaky tone.

“I know. Thank god. The ambulance will be here right away,” Katie heaved a shaky intake of breath that was a mixture of relief and lingering distraught.

“Ask her where the nearest hospital is,” Nico insisted, his expression scrunched up with an unfathomable expression, his frame unconsciously leaning towards the female as he anticipated of her response. Jason could simply word out his question, slowly coming out of his dazed state as he soon regained his usual cool composure.

Nico was beyond certain that the woman’s response might be the solution to his predicament, and he waited impatiently for her response with bated breath.

“Just a few blocks from here. Apollo’s Medical Center,” the woman supplied with a smile.

The woman might have mentioned more of the medical center, but Nico was inattentive by then as he wordlessly arose from his kneeling position, deep in thought as he strode out of the restaurant and out into the open. Bidding his goodbye, Jason followed after in his slightly unsteady feet, maneuvering past the gratuitous crowd and headed to where Nico was leaning against a streetlamp.

There was a wide and natural grin stretching those full thin lips, and those usually cold dark brown eyes brimmed with an uncharacteristic, yet welcomed jubilance that Jason found himself unintentionally admiring.

“Apollo’s Medical Center! Jason, I know I worked in that hospital. It sounded so familiar, I just know it!” Nico voiced out.

His hands were moving in wild and exaggerated gestures that Jason had come to begrudgingly adore since their first meeting, and he was leaning towards the blond male in what Nico would usually deem as too close of a proximity.

Yet, as much as Jason wished he could express that same happiness as the Italian male did, the fresh experience of saving the life of a dying individual plagued his mind still, and it was obvious in how his hands still shook with the lingering adrenaline from what occurred.

“I’ve never saved a life before…” Jason shakily exhaled, placing a hand against the streetlamp as he swayed just a tad bit.

“It’s the most amazing feeling in the entire world! When you are looking at these monitors, and everyone thinks it’s almost game over, but you bring them back and –“

“Woah.”

And Nico would have babbled on if Jason had not completely slumped against the streetlamp, and slowly edged to sit on the hot, concrete pavement. Nico was alert in an instant, hovering over the blond male, and scrutinizing his entirety – from his unusually pale complexion, down to the incessant trembles that wracked his frame.

“Jason, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Just… wow. It was nerve-wracking,” Jason answered with due honestly, releasing a shaky sigh once more as he leaned his head back against the streetlamp, cautious not to voice his thoughts out loud with the knowledge that he was alone in the eyes of others.

“For what it’s worth, you did well out there despite getting the name of the condition wrong for several times,” the Italian praised with a small yet natural smile as he extended a hand down towards Jason, hesitantly retracting a mere few seconds later as he processed the fact that he was not tangible to the older male.

Jason was gratuitous of the attempt to aid him up, yet his voice failed him on voicing it out as he was still drawn on that alluring smile that stretched those full yet thin lips. With Nico hovering above him, the gleaming sunlight casting down upon his disheveled silky locks, Jason could not help but think of how Nico seemed surreal at that moment.

“You look better when you smile.” Jason had not realized that he had said it out loud, blurting those words unintentionally. Yet, when he did regain his senses, Jason could swear that he was valiantly and fruitlessly fighting the faint dusting of red across his cheeks out of his own embarrassment.

Nico had flushed visibly at that comment, his lips parting a couple of times for a few seconds before firmly pressing shut. Regardless of the bright blush that unintentionally crept its way onto his cheeks, Nico wordlessly turned around, bringing a hand up to cover his lips – or at least that was what Jason assumed considering the fact that he could not properly see the young man’s features.

“Come on, Watson, we still have a job to do. We have a strong lead now. Let’s finally find out who I am,” Nico offered before walking ahead in slow and hesitant steps.

For a brief moment, Jason found himself actually smiling for whatever reason that he could not place a name upon. Shaking his head to fight off the flush on his cheeks as well as to regain his composure, Jason immediately rushed ahead to where the Italian male was looking at him inquisitively, ignoring the faint fluttering of butterfly wings against his stomach and the possible implications of the sudden quick palpitations of his heart.

.

.

.

_Continua_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you guys think. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “She has a tattoo on her ass,” Nico commented nonchalantly upon pulling back, as if it were as casual as stating, ‘Nice weather we are having today’.
> 
> “It says ‘All aboard!’” was the highly amused remark as Nico gazed directly once more into Jason’s eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys have yet to watch the actual movie and happened to read this, then please don’t watch the movie yet. /sweatdrops/ If you have, please do not push your expectations high.
> 
> This work will contain up to 5 chapters only.
> 
> This work is both available on my tumblr and fanfiction account.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and its characters for they belong to Rick Riordan.

 

* * *

_“I have had enough of people leaving my life. I want someone to come, and to stay permanently; I was hoping that it would be you.”_

* * *

“Nico? You  mean Nico di Angelo?” A blond male with a typical surfer’s built – Will Solace, according to Nico – inquired from behind the counter, lips pressed firmly to a thin line as those vibrant blue eyes assessed Jason with skepticism.

Apollo’s Medical Center was a stereotypical medical facility of a consistent pale blue wall coating and a heady scent of bleach and sanitizers. The moment the Italian male stepped foot onto the lobby, his memories rushed in a smooth flow, as if an imaginary blockade on his memories had suddenly collapsed. Names of patients and of colleagues flooded his mind in an instant, as did countless, memorable encounters that were of the past. The excessive amount of overtimes he burdened himself with; shifts that lasted for twenty-six hours, which he considered his best personal record.

The hospital, Nico gathered, was close to being his second home.

“Di Angelo… Yes, that’s it. That is my name,” Nico confirmed with a nod, which Jason delivered verbally.

Will seemed hesitant to respond, his lips parting a few times yet no words escaped from his parted lips. A few seconds was what it took for them to get a response, and it was too professional, as if the blond nurse was weighing each and every word of his statement.

“Doctor di Angelo is… is not active on our staff right now,” Will responded in a low and guarded tone which Nico was all too familiar with. “Excuse me, sir, but I need you to go to the third floor nurse’s station. Doctor Arellano will be with you shortly.”

“Oh, no. That’s Reyna, my mentor. Will would not send us up to her unless it was something bad. And Will was using  _that_  tone,” Nico murmured, more so to himself, yet Jason heard his remark still.

“Tone? What tone?” Jason inquired once they had entered the lift that the blond nurse directed them to.

“ _The_  tone,” Nico sighed in exasperation, running a hand through his already disheveled, black locks. “That tone when you are trying to pass the responsibility to another person, and tell you that your friend died.”

Both winced at the implication of that, and neither welcomed the possibility of that statement being true. Despite Jason’s initial response to Nico’s presence, the latter’s companion was slowly becoming a welcomed constant in Jason’s life. There were miniscule details of Nico di Angelo which Jason accepted so easily – so naturally – that Jason had to wonder if his initial response to Nico was anywhere remotely close to dislike. The Italian male was not at all bad once they entered this temporary partnership deemed as Sherlock Homes and Dr. Watson.

As soon as they stepped out of the lift, they were immediately greeted with the presence of a sophisticated Puerto Rican woman of piercing black eyes and glossy black hair worn in a single braid, adorning a doctor’s lab coat. There was a trace of a smile that curled her lips, but it was the professional smile that Nico was only too familiar, being one of the same profession.

Doctor Arellano stepped up, her right arm lifting to offer a handshake as she stepped close to the two of them, though like others, unaware of Nico di Angelo’s presence.

“Mr. Grace?” she inquired politely, to which Jason nodded as he extended a hand to hers for a handshake.

“Yes, that would be me.”

“You have been inquiring about Nico di Angelo?” Reyna questioned.

“That’s right. Could you tell me what happened to him?” Jason inquired as he stiffly pulled his hand back from the firm handshake.

The Puerto Rican woman offered a small professional smile.

“First, I need to know your relationship with him.”

“Tell her you’re my boyfriend,” Nico instructed from his eyes, barely glancing at Jason as he had his gaze fixated on the woman.

“What?” Jason breathed in a low voice, his tone laced with confusion and hesitance.

“She can’t tell you anything unless she knows we’re intimately connected,” Nico explained with a sigh, then redirecting his attention to Jason and looking at him as if the situation was self-explanatory.

Jason swallowed the lump that constricted his throat briefly, before his lips parted to offer the doctor his response.

“We were… romantic. With each other,” Jason answered, his expression becoming slightly sheepish, and his chest fluttered just slightly at the mere possibility of that thought.

“What do you mean?” was the inquisitive response.

“You know, boyfriend-boyfriend…” Jason trailed off, repressing the urge to wince at the logic that he had offered, or to grimace at the idea that the woman might not be open to homosexual tendencies or relationships.

“I know what you mean, Mr. Grace,” the doctor responded with a smile that was clearly not amused. “But I find that hard to believe as Mr. di Angelo’s entire life was this hospital. There was not a single date that he attended as he prioritized his patients above everything else.”

That explains their theory of being anti-social. Perhaps Nico di Angelo was not exactly anti-social, just utterly devoted and passionate of his line of work. Nico certainly could vouch for that, as memories of numerous patients flashed through his mind. Vaguely, he could recall of an old woman who had proposed to him, a little boy whom he had made a balloon for using a latex glove, and so much more.

“She said  _‘was’_ ,” Nico stated belatedly, and there was something akin to fear in those dark brown eyes that had Jason dreading any responses that followed thereafter.

“We were fairly recent,” Jason responded slowly, addressing to the Puerto Rican’s earlier doubts. “I live in his apartment… building.” He added the last bit when both doctors gazed pointedly at him.

Jason’s response had the opposite effect as the doctor eyed him with skepticism and seemed to doubt him furthermore, yet they still managed to get a response from her.

“So, you did not know about the accident?”

 _Accident_ …

The word triggered another memory, one which Nico was fairly certain was his most, and when his soul was still likely attached to his body. Nico remembered the heavy downpour as he navigated his convertible across the road just as he was headed for his sister’s apartment for a blind date that was set-up, and he had begrudgingly obliged to. He remembered talking to his sister, of his promise to try to keep more in touch with her, or at least to open to the idea of socialization more. He remembered diverting his eyes from the road for a split second, and then a blinding light from a speeding truck just a few meters from him before their vehicles crashed with a harsh impact.

His features must have contorted disturbingly as the blond male fixed him with a concerned expression on occasional glances, trying to remain conspicuous as he was still engaged in a conversation with the female doctor.

“Jason, I remember. The accident… gods, it was awful,” Nico breathed, staring off into nowhere as he fisted a hand on the fabric of his shirt atop his heart.

The only indication that Jason had heard him was the sympathetic look on those electric blue eyes as he spared him a glance.

“I was away for a while. On a business trip,” Jason explained, but Nico was not listening any further, barely hearing Reyna mention of  _‘Three months’_  as he headed down the hallways.

For some inexplicable reason, Nico had his dark brown hues fixated onto the door at the far end of the hallway, walking through it without the slightest bit of hesitation. It was as if something was gravitating him, pulling him towards it as if it were a sole fixed point which he could not escape from.

The very first thing that greeted his sight was of the countless flowers and photographs that lined against a wide counter by the windows, the blinds shielding the room from the glaring sunlight outside. There was that distinct heady scent of bleach and sanitizers as well, mixed in with the alluring fragrance of roses, sunflowers and hyacinths. A wide array of drawings with vibrant colors stretched across the wide counter, and Nico noted of the names scrawled at the bottom of each.

 _Maria and Hazel_.

Cautiously stepping further towards the room, Nico was accurately right of the dread that settled within the pit of stomach. The sight that greeted him was perhaps far worse than the possibility that he was actually dead. Strapped onto numerous IV tubes, a heart monitor and a life machine was…

Him.

“It’s you.”

Nico had to admit that he had somehow forgotten that Jason was with him, and only registered of his presence when he had spoken out loud, wide electric blue eyes fixed solely on his figure on the bed.

Jason stepped closer once he had shut the door with a resounding click, and admired the sight of Nico di Angelo’s  _tangible_  body; of his wild and untamed curls framing his slightly sunken cheeks, and the faded dark circles underneath his eyes. On that bed, Nico seemed so frail and vulnerable in Jason’s eyes. The blond male disliked the sight.

“It really is you. You’re alive,” Jason breathed, leaning forward to chance upon a better look.

“I know, Jason, but this is not good. I am in a coma,” Nico stated, lifting a hand before Jason could pursue with an argument. “This is a persistent coma, Jason. Three months, Reyna said. That is  _never_  good.”

“It’s better than being dead, di Angelo,” Jason stated with a sigh, fixing him with a stern gaze. “You’re alive, you look fine and you have no scars or wounds on your body. Your body is healing. You actually look beautiful.”

An awkward silence stretched on between them, and Jason had to glance away in embarrassment at that slip of a tongue. He had not meant to state that last bit, and his traitorous mouth just had to betray him at that moment.

“It doesn’t matter how I look, Jason,” Nico stated after a while, his teeth digging onto his lower lip. “At this rate, I am just as good as dead.”

Jason might have started an argument at that point; might have had attempted to reason with Nico, that the Italian was supposed to convince him otherwise that he would live and not the other way around. However, as he was just about to respond, Reyna walked inside the room quietly, effectively cutting off any further discussion.

“I believe that you should know of this, Mr. Grace, but when we enter into this line of work, we are asked to sign release forms,” Reyna explained as he approached Jason, casting a devastated expression at the figure on the bed. “Doctor di Angelo was against the idea of artificially prolonging life.”

“That was before. I changed my mind,” Nico exclaimed from his bedside, rushing forward towards his mentor.

Nico was well aware where this conversation was headed, and he clearly disliked the fact that he was intangible to everyone aside from Jason; that he could not communicate and inform of them that he was alive, and to  _please_  not take his life away.

“What does that mean for him?” Jason inquired hesitantly, having a gist of what it meant if Nico’s expression was anything to go by.

“We have provided his sister with the paper works regarding… his life support. I am aware that I should keep my professional and personal lives separate, but frankly speaking, I think our attending physician Doctor Octavian Simmons is trying to persuade his sister to cut off his life support,” Reyna stated, and Jason fought off the grimace from curling his lips at the resounding growl from his intangible companion at the mention of the attending physician’s name.

“I am not asking you to take action regarding this matter. I think you should know from me that there is a possibility that Doctor di Angelo’s life support might be cut-off soon. I think Doctor di Angelo would rather have you hear of it from someone other than Doctor Simmons.”

With that, Reyna decided to give them – Jason, at least – a few minutes of privacy, stating that she had to an appointment in a few minutes and that she was not permitted to leave him be, unattended.

Silence stretched on as Nico headed once more to his bedside, watching at his unconscious figure with an expression that was unfathomable to his companion. Jason was uncertain of how he should process his emotions at that moment. A part of him was devastated that Nico was existing upon a limited and seemingly borrowed time, and that the Italian might just have a day or two left to exist. A part of him was seething at the idea that this Doctor Simmons was trying to convince Nico’s sister to cut-off his life support based on his former stand that was stated on a flimsy piece of paper. A part of his was in a state of disbelief that Nico’s sister might actually be convinced that doing so might be the righteous decision to make for her brother.

Lastly, a part of him loathed the sheer idea of Nico di Angelo ceasing to exist.

“We need to do something.  _You_  need to tell me what to do, Doctor di Angelo,” Jason stated firmly, meeting the younger male’s eyes that were wide with surprise for a few seconds, before they became somber.

“We can’t do anything, Jason,” Nico stated firmly, barely masking the dejected look that fleeted across his face. “There is nothing to attach my soul to my body. It’s as if my soul and body are not connected anymore.”

As if to demonstrate his point, Nico casually laid himself atop his body, passing through it effortlessly. There was a brief change in his heart rate, but there was no difference otherwise as when Nico lifted his right hand, his physical form did not follow.

With a barely masked sigh, Nico lifted himself off from the bed, and stalked off to where the windows were. From his position, he glared immensely at his body, letting out a string of curses in Italian that would usually had Jason smiling in amusement. However, the situation was too grim and too important for him to consider being amused of the male’s wide variety of colorful curses.

“Alright. Alright,” Jason murmured, his expression scrunching up as he was in deep thought. “… I need you to turn around.”

Nico blinked in surprise.

“What?”

“Just turn around. I want to try something,” Jason stated as he ran a hand through his locks, tugging lightly on the hair against his nape before he dropped his hand to the side.

The younger male seemed hesitant, yet warily did as was requested.

Jason was not entirely sure if it would matter that much if he did get the response he desired from Nico. Yet, it mattered much to him to prove –  _just this once_  – that Nico was potentially wrong of his stand. Cautiously, he lifted Nico’s right hand up, clasping it gently with his spare hand. He had to repress the urge to sigh as Nico’s hand was surprisingly cool to the touch. Perhaps it was due to his vegetative state, or the air-conditioning of the room, but the temperature of his slightly calloused hand was pleasantly cool and just utterly  _perfect_ against Jason’s warm hand.

Jason’s touch had a certain tingle to it, Nico gathered to himself as he lifted his hand – the one which Jason held – with an expression of wonder. Did Jason feel the exact same sensation? Did he feel that tingly sensation that passed through his hand, and wracked his body in shivers?

“You felt that, didn’t you?” Jason inquired in a voice barely above a whisper, his thumb rubbing circles against the back of his hand.

To Nico di Angelo who had been incapable of any sensations derived from physical contact for three months now, it was a highly welcomed sensation.

“You are still connected to your body, Nico,” Jason stated with firm conviction as he approached the younger male. “These machines cannot tell you everything. I am telling you, Nico. You are still very much alive and connected to your body. How else are we able to have this conversation?”

“I don’t know,” Nico answered, an edge to his voice as he turned once more to gaze at the various items that littered the wide counter by the window.

“What happened to convincing me days ago that you were alive?” Jason questioned softly, standing just behind the younger male’s back.

Reaching forward, Jason carefully grasped at a picture frame on the counter, his lips twitching slightly before stretching out to a fond smile as he admired the photograph of Nico di Angelo and his sister. They seemed almost identical in features, yet Jason found himself much inclined to the Italian male’s appeal. If there was something that Jason would rather not entertain, it was the idea that he might never had a chance to see Nico di Angelo’s rare, natural smiles once more – the one that was depicted in the picture. He seemed utterly carefree then, no traces of stress or burden etched across his features.

“That’s the picture from my nightstand,” Nico murmured, tracing the frame with a finger. “Bianca must have brought it.”

“You looked great.”

“Look at me now,” Nico murmured, casting a glance at his immobile frame before walking off to the monitors. “Nothing has changed, Jason. If anything, my brain activity is decreasing.”

“Nico…” Jason started, but closed his mouth instantly. He tried once more.

“Nico, listen. I have to leave soon and…” As much as Jason would rather stay by his side and watch over him and his body as much as time would permit, he was restricted by the fact that he was an unimportant figure in Nico’s life that was neither a family nor the  _boyfriend_ that he had earlier claimed to be. “I’ll wait downstairs in the lobby…”

Nico turned to him after a few seconds, understanding evident in his eyes.

“No. You should go. Thank you so much for helping me.”

Only then did it register to Jason that Nico was saying his goodbyes to him. As much as it dismayed him, as much as his unspoken goodbye constricted Jason’s chest immensely, he forced himself to offer a smile.

“It was my pleasure,” Jason responded, the smile dropping off his lips in a matter of seconds. “Are you sure you don’t want to come back? It is your apartment, after all and… It just feels weird leaving you here all alone.”

“I don’t know where else I belong,” Nico responded just as he faced away from Jason, eyeing at the monitors immensely as if they were the sole interesting detail that was in the room.

“You belong with the living, Nico. You belong with m—“

Before Jason could finish his response once more – one which he had not thought out that well – they were once more interrupted by the Puerto Rican doctor.

“Mr. Grace, I am sorry,” Reyna voiced out as she peeked into the room, and Jason could only grimace at the fact that he had run out of time.

There were many people in Jason’s life which he wished had stayed permanently. It was tiring to have to go through countless instances wherein he was the one being constantly left behind. Piper’s death was one which delivered a fatal blow to his being, and Jason had sworn then not to get too attached to anyone since.

Then, Nico came.

Jason faintly hoped that he was there to stay; that he would be the one to  _actually_  stay when everyone else left. Jason was not entirely too sure when Nico’s presence had mattered that much for him, but now that he was leaving  _as well_ , Jason could not entertain how it stung all the more than Piper’s demise had been.

Was it because Piper’s had been a smooth and clean break? Was it because he actually had a time to say goodbye to Nico, and that alone was enough to severe that permanent wound that Nico was slowly carving onto his chest?

“Goodbye, Nico.”

Leaning towards the male’s immobile and tangible body, Jason gently pressed a kiss to his forehead before exiting the room, leaving Nico to gaze after him with wide, surprised eyes. He had felt the kiss; the barest of warmth on Jason’s lips against the cool skin of his forehead. What made Jason an exception to everyone else? That was a question which Nico had to constantly question himself.

Jason, in Nico’s belief, had always been positively different from everyone else, and that had always been Jason’s strongest point that had Nico drawn to him. It was also like a nicotine to the younger male, how refreshing Jason’s presence was, and how he daringly challenged the beliefs Nico often had. And now, Jason was challenging his death with the personal belief that Nico would live. Was it too much to cling onto the fact that there was a possibility to keep him alive? Was it too much to cling onto the fact that Jason might consider all possible means and defy everything if there was a chance to save him?

* * *

“Well,” Nico pursed his lips, a vague disappointment glinting those dark brown irises as they lifted to meet electric blue eyes head-on. “That did not take long.”

“No. No, it’s not what you think. I did not invite her in. She got locked out of her apartment, and she asked if she could possibly use the phone from the apartment to call on a locksmith,” Jason explained in a single breath, rushing through the details under that doubtful scrutiny.

It took everything that there was of Nico di Angelo – all his hesitance and doubts – to place his trust on the idea that Jason might be able to save him from the predicament he had been forced onto. Despite how queasy it had him feel to face Jason once more under the circumstances which they departed – that being of Jason kissing his forehead and leaving everything open-ended between them – he had to dismiss it to see Jason once more. Under the current circumstances, Nico was slowly regretting his decision.

So Jason was a young widower. That, Nico understood. But did he actually have to invite that blasted woman into the apartment hours just after they had shared over the news of Nico’s imminent death?

Nico was slowly despising himself for deluding himself that, perhaps, Jason might actually harbor romantic emotions for him after that kiss. Nico failed to consider that it might have just been a friendly gesture. He suddenly felt utterly stupid for his assumptions.

“I think you extended your hospitality too much by offering her a private spot on the bedroom,” Nico countered in an almost monotonous voice, cocking his head towards the open bedroom door where a flurry of clothes – from that thin camisole, to a ruffled brassiere, that skin-tight leather pants, and  _finally_  a flimsy neon green thong – had bundled up in a small pile.

Electric blue eyes widened at the realization, and before the Italian male could utter any further comment, Jason answered hastily.

“I swear to the gods, Nico, I did not ask her for any of… of this!” Jason gestured to the pile of clothes, swallowing on the sudden lump that lodged itself onto the pale column of his throat.

Nico merely raised an eyebrow at that, but he had to repress a sigh of relief as he saw genuine honesty in those electric blue eyes.

“So, you are telling me that you are not even the  _least_  bit curious of her sexual appeal underneath her tight fitting apparel?” Nico questioned with narrowed eyes, observing how the blond’s slightly chapped lips parted once –  _twice_  – in careful evaluation of what he should respond.

“Tell you what, I’ll do a little recon for you,” Nico offered with a shrug as he turned his back onto Jason.

“Please don’t,” was uttered along with an exaggerated sigh as the Italian male casually approached the then ajar door to the bedroom.

“Don’t worry. I’m a doctor,” Nico responded with the barest hint of amusement and mock professionalism as he stuck his head against the bedroom door.

Jason merely observed, cringing internally at his companion’s actions and of the thoughtful hum that was rumbling from the younger male’s throat as he carried out his ‘professional observations’.

“She has a tattoo on her ass,” Nico commented nonchalantly upon pulling back, as if it were as casual as stating,  _‘Nice weather we are having today’_.

“It says ‘All aboard!’” was the highly amused remark as Nico gazed directly once more into Jason’s eyes.

Every fiber of his being tingled with a heady sensation under that direct scrutiny, as if Jason was being stripped bare of his everything under those amused, dark brown eyes. Jason was certain that there should be some semblance of discomfort over it, yet he found that he minded little that the younger male seemed to see through him as if he were an open book. Rather, Jason basked of the fact that the situation was equally mutual as Jason believed that he had a partial peek to Nico’s soul in that moment where their eyes meet.

“Really?” was all that Jason breathed out, still staring intently into those amused eyes.

“In three languages,” Nico added, those full and thin lips curling upwards and into a full-blown smirk.

“That’s… funny,” was Jason’s response, for the lack of a better term.

“She’s very cultural,” Nico responded with a shrug, the expression on his features speaking volumes as if what he stated was matter-of-factly.

If Jason had not known Nico di Angelo for weeks, he might have blindly taken his façade of indifference and nonchalance in a stride.

“You know, you sound jealous,” Jason stated, eyeing the younger male immensely and basking in how taut his jaws were, or how those dark brown eyes were alike hardened steel under the dimmed lights of the hallway.

Nico seemed scandalized for a moment of the claim, before he responded with a snort and a roll of his eyes. His arms crossed over his chest, and he lifted his head indignantly, flashing a grimace at the blond.

“Oh, please,” was his brief response.

“You do,” Jason breathed out almost teasingly, leaning forward and invading the apparition’s personal space just to irk – to incite a response from him. Jason did, yet not that which he opted for as Nico simply casted his eyes to the parquet floor, his head lowering thereafter.

“ _Sweetie_?”

The saccharinely sweet croon of the temporarily forgotten and unwelcomed occupant of the apartment snapped their attentions effectively from the conversation. Personally, Nico would admit to having preference to discomfort over the sight of Drew Tanaka – naked as the day she had been born – donned in nothing but a thick white bath towel. And was that actually Jason’s? Nico warily eyed the glaring initials of  _JG_  on the lower right of the towel.

Turning once more to face the blond male, Nico arched a brow at the obvious discomfort on Jason’s features as those electric blue eyes bore onto the voluptuous female’s figure.

“Eyes up top, Jason,” Nico breathed past gritted teeth as Drew flashed a sickly sweet smile as she approached –  _prowled_  – the internally grimacing blond male.

“Look, I’m sorry if I’m coming on a little too strong.” She did not sound apologetic at all. “That’s just my style.”

“I hear you sometimes. Out here, all by yourself. I just figured eventually… ‘ _Maybe he’s lonely’_ ,” Drew continued, leaning against the wall, just a few meters from Jason, and clutching onto the towel as if she were afraid that it would fall off –  _ironically_. “I know I am. But, is it wrong for me to want to be close to another body? To feel the warmth of another person against me? To not feel all alone and by myself?”

The silence which answered her rhetorical questions had Nico chancing a glance at Jason. For a second, the younger male had to wonder if he ever had the right to restrict Jason from what the woman was willingly – and not even remotely  _discretely –_ offering. Those electric blue eyes were honestly hesitant as the questions that Drew uttered nagged at the corners of Jason’s mind. But, not in the way which Nico interpreted. Never in the way that Nico interpreted.

Of course, Nico misinterpreted Jason’s silence and hesitance.

Nico had no right or claim on Jason to decide what the latter should or should not do. May they be as minor as placing a coaster underneath his glass cups or his preference on munching junk food over a cooked and balanced meal, Nico had no right to dictate the blond male. More so at that moment, when Jason could actually use a company; a tangible company that might just pave way for him to moving on from his deceased wife’s demise.

So why was his chest constricting at the sheer thought that  _maybe_  Jason wanted to be with Drew?

“Be with her. I know it’s what you want. It’s okay.” Nico found himself blurting out to the blond male, who redirected his attention to him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“What?”

“Go ahead. I know you want to be with her. It’s what you both want,” Nico concluded, his eyes becoming more guarded, and there was uncharacteristic remorse in his eyes that Jason was fixed on disliking.

“No, that’s not–“

“Are you alright? Do you want to take some kind of medication first? It’s cool if you do,” Drew stated, and Jason cursed himself for temporarily forgetting her  _very_  naked presence before him.

“It’s alright, Jason,” Nico murmured before Jason could defend himself in front of her, or before he could dismiss the Italian male’s ridiculous train of thoughts. “She’s beautiful and she’s right in front of you. And me… I’m just in the way.”

Nico cautiously stepped back from his and Jason’s close proximity, his head lowering once more as he stepped past Jason and headed towards the rooftop briskly.

It stung Jason, and for a second, he could care any less if he seemed like a lunatic in front of the woman as he called after Nico di Angelo.

“Nico, wait! Nico!”

But the Italian male was already gone, far from earshot. Jason mentally cursed himself, refusing to entertain the sheer idea of punching at the walls, well aware that he would accomplish nothing but bruised knuckles and making him seem more insane in the eyes of Drew Tanaka. Speaking of which…

With dread, Jason turned to face the woman whose features seemed to partially contort in unease. Yet, that predatory look in her eyes did not diminish as she flashed a seductive smile at the blond.

“It’s Drew.”

In a single and smooth motion, the bath towel dropped towards the ground, leaving her naked as the day she was born.

“Uh-oh.”

* * *

Nico was not entirely too sure what to expect thereafter their awkward exchange. Perhaps, a huge part of him had anticipated that Jason would grasp at the bait which Drew dangled enticingly in front of him, and that Nico would soon hear their respective moans that would forever haunt him as the last memories of his bleak existence. On many instances, Nico had been tempted to possess Jason, consequences be damned and all, but he could not do it in the end.

This was Jason Grace, after all. The sole individual that risked… well, his sanity in order to aid in Nico’s quest in determining his identity. Despite their countless bickering, Nico was eternally grateful of the companion he had offered. If there was anyone who rightfully deserved a positivity in life once more, it was Jason Grace.

So when Jason slowly emerged to the rooftop, his hands shoved onto the jeans of his cargo pants as he strode over to where Nico was, the latter had to eye him warily.

“That was quick. Did you…  _ejaculate prematurely_  or –“

Jason chuckled, looking at the younger male directly in the eyes.

“Nothing happened,” Jason answered with a smile.

There were a variety of unspoken words that hung between them. Nico was certain that statements such as  _‘What made you come back?’_  hung on the tip of Jason’s tongue, yet the blond male was acting as if their exchange of goodbyes did not occur at all.

Nico appreciated that.

“What did you say to her?” was the Italian’s inquiry.

“That I was seeing someone,” Jason replied casually, shrugging for an added effect.

“Really now?”

“Well, I didn’t mention that I was the only person who could,” Jason added sheepishly, inciting a laugh from the Italian male.

Jason had to smile as well at that, cherishing the smile that stretched those thin and full lips. This was the Nico di Angelo that he wished to remember, not the one he had parted with; on the hospital bed, unmoving. There was much that he wished to ask of the younger male, but Jason repressed the urge to inquire over cherishing this rare moment of just being with someone whom he wished could have been a constant in his life.

“I haven’t really been with anyone since Piper,” Jason stated after a while when Nico’s laughter had died.

Those electric blue eyes were staring off at the city below them, and Nico faintly reminisced of the first instance that they were atop the rooftop. With the city lights against Jason’s features and blond locks, he seemed almost surreal to Nico once more. The Italian male found himself admiring the older male closely, only then noticing the faint scar that was etched against the skin atop his upper lip. He had wanted to question that, but the manner by which Jason subtlety changed their topic, Nico was certain that Jason wanted to get some things off of his chest.

“One day, she was just cursing at high heels, which she called as the bane of her existence. Then suddenly, she just sat down… rested her head against the palms of her hands…”

“Cerebral hemorrhage?” Nico inquired in a low voice, slightly surprised that Jason was actually discussing with him the details of his wife’s death.

“I couldn’t do anything to help her. She just… I didn’t even get to say goodbye. She was just… gone,” Jason murmured, more so to himself.

His throat constricted more than once, still finding it difficult to discuss the details of his wife’s death. Yet somehow, there was that lack of breathlessness that he often experienced. Perhaps it was Nico’s presence that was making the entire ordeal of admitting these things easier, and Jason just found himself letting those pent-up emotions go under Nico’s scrutiny.

His sight blurred just the slightest bit, and he blinked back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. Piper’s death was still painful; still fresh in his mind. But it was easier to bear, now that he had spilled his regrets out in the open.

“What was she like?” Nico questioned in a quiet voice, as if wary of interrupting Jason’s train of thoughts.

“Oh… Well, she was kind of… a pain in the ass. We’re mutually pains in each other’s asses. I mean really,” Jason breathed a broken chuckle. Yet, Nico still found himself smiling as Jason described his wife to him.

“She would usually have her undergarments on the doorknobs, or drain the gas of the car until it’s completely empty. She couldn’t even put gas in the car; it was impossible for her. Remembering how she was like… I just get so mad… at myself for thinking about her,” Jason chuckled once more.

Yet, at that time, tears finally spilled from his eyes, trickling down his cheeks briefly before the blond wiped at them in partial frustration and embarrassment.

“She has these kaleidoscopic eyes. I could just stare at them forever, and never really figure what color they were.”

“I’m sorry, Jason.” Nico found himself uttering as he stepped close.

Nico di Angelo was certain that he could not offer much for comfort in terms of physical contact, but he had hoped that staying by the grieving male’s side was enough at that moment. His attempt though seemed to work, as Jason lifted his free hand – the one which had not been wiping away his tears – and allowed it to hover close to one of Nico’s cheeks. Unintentionally, the latter found himself closing his eyes and leaning to where that inviting warmth emanated from. Of course, Jason was unable to touch him, but his warmth was enough for Nico.

“I could almost feel that,” Nico murmured as he slowly opened his eyes, seeming conflicted as he met Jason’s. “Your warmth.”

“Your sister won’t really sign those papers, would she?” Jason had to ask, still keeping his hand in place while Nico diverted his gaze to the side.

“I don’t know. My brain activity is decreasing with each day, and…” Nico trailed off, but it was enough for the blond male to understand the implications of that.

Nico was close to dying, whether it was of his sister’s will or not. His sister was simply the one to give the verdict whether to terminate his life now or wait for a few more days… or weeks… or whatever time was left of his life.

“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing. You are kind of a smarty pants. It might help bring you down to my level,” Jason teased as he pulled his hand back.

“You’re not dumb, Jason. Just… physically challenged by procrastination, perhaps,” Nico stated as he stepped back.

“I wasn’t always like this,” Jason murmured in a low voice, so low that Nico almost did not hear.

“What were you like?”

When their eyes met once more, there was only one sole conviction that firmly ingrained itself onto Jason’s mind. If Nico was truly dying soon, then he would get the best out of that time. At least, as much as Jason was capable of offering. If he could see those rare smiles a few more times before losing them forever, then Jason would be damned if he were to try nothing to see them once more.

“Come on, di Angelo. Let me show you something.”

.

.

.

_Continua_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you guys think. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were a lot of reasons that Jason could offer; reasons which then passed through his mind in a brief flash.
> 
> Because your eyes are the darkest and deepest, yet most captivating shade of brown that I have ever laid my eyes upon –  
> Because you have that natural and honest smile that just tells me that I can trust you with my life –  
> Because you have a dark sense of humor, but it’s completely you and I like that you don’t try to hide that –  
> Because you make me feel alive in a way that I have forgotten in two years –  
> Because I love –
> 
> “I just have to.”

_“Please don’t give up on me like everyone else.”_

* * *

Jason was never the silent and brooding type. That was, in all aspect, a Nico di Angelo quality which the latter claimed highly to himself. So when Jason opted to being silent and brooding once they entered his Black Escalade SUV, Nico had to wonder if he had actually seen all aspects that there was to Jason Grace. He had seen the contortions on Jason’s features as he was immersed in his anger; had seen Jason basked in his depression with an occasional can of beer or alcohol. He had seen Jason breathe out a laugh though only half-heartedly. Yet, he had never seen this side of Jason – that silent and brooding type – which he could not fathom anything from.

Their eyes would constantly meet through the rear view mirror, and Nico would always be the one to disconnect their eye contact, unseeing eyes drifting to the passing scenery beyond the windows of the car. Nico had no idea where they were heading, or in which part of New York they were at that moment or if they were still within New York at all. Jason had been driving his car for hours, so Nico could only assume that they were either headed somewhere far or lost.

Neither of them initiated a conversation, partially due to the fact that there was not a specific matter that could actually be a point of an in-depth discussion. Aside from that, Jason’s silence spoke volumes that he was immersed deeply in his thoughts – thoughts which Nico could not decipher based on Jason’s neutral features alone. There was nothing – based on what Nico could see – that expressed displeasure in his features, so Nico was fairly certain that he had not royally screwed up for some unspoken reason.

When the car stopped, it was in the front lawn of a Roman-themed mansion of pristine white solid marbles, and Nico was leaning more to the idea that they were perhaps lost at that point that Jason decided to stop to ask for help. Yet, when Jason exited his car after promptly turning off the engine, walking with utmost confidence as he paced towards the mansion, Nico found himself voicing out his curiosity.

“Where are we?” The Italian male inquired hesitantly, following after the blond male as Jason guided them towards the far side of a mansion where a cast iron gate was, partially entwined by creeping, overgrown vines.

“The owners of this place are usually at Hawaii at this time of the year. It’s their annual getaway, I believe,” Jason responded with utmost nonchalance.

“Are we trespassing?” Nico questioned, now hesitant to take a further step into the property.

Though, matter-of-factly, trespassing would not apply to him as he was an intangible presence. If anyone were to be charged of trespassing, it was most likely Jason. What were they doing in a private property in the first place?

“No. Come on, I’ll show you something,” Jason assured him, pushing past the gates, and Nico hesitantly followed after him.

The first thing which Nico noticed was the scent. It was the first detail that actually registered to him – that saccharinely sweet and divine fragrance of, presumably, a wide array of flowers. Then, the sight greeted him. A garden stretched far and wide, where roses, hyacinths, tulips, sunflowers, and orchids bloomed, and so much more which Nico could only name a limited few with his inadequate knowledge of flowers. A fountain rested on the middle, where a sculpture of a young couple rested, atop a marble column, each having a hand outstretched to where the water was gathered. At the far end of the garden rested a plain yet pristine white gazebo, with vines creeping along the columns and dainty white flowers bloomed.

“You said you love gardens,” Jason stated as Nico stepped further into the garden, the former’s eyes softening with a bit of fondness in his eyes as he carefully watched the younger male. “I made this place. This is my work. I was a landscape architect. I had my own company for a while.” Jason elaborated when Nico’s eyes widened in surprise.

It was astoundingly beautiful, presenting the most picturesque scene that Nico has ever seen. Yet, the beauty was not what had Nico’s features contort in a manner which Jason had difficulty comprehending.

“Jason, I’ve been here before… I think. In a dream,” Nico breathed, wanting to reach a hand out to caress the petals and the budding flowers. The knowledge that he was unable to do so restrained him. “That is probably strange to hear, but I know of this place so well; I can clearly remember how beautiful it was in my dream. To see it in person, it is even more mesmerizing…”

Nico trailed off before casting gazing directly onto those electric blue eyes.

“It must be a joy to create a place like this,” Nico concluded, slowly stepping towards Jason, stopping short a few feet from the blond male.

“Yeah, it was,” Jason half-heartedly murmured.

“Is it going to be again?”

“Sure,” Jason responded smoothly, but he followed it with a shrug and a slightly amused smile that had Nico doubting that he meant of it.

Pursing his lips, Nico extended his right hand and held it sideways.

“Promise?” Nico inquired, partially amused.

Despite the knowledge that neither of their palms would come to press against each other, Jason obliged the younger male’s gesture with a natural smile curling his lips, extending his right hand as well and simply just holding it to press against Nico’s in an illusion that they were actually in contact with each other; that Nico would not disappear anytime soon with that impending death that loomed over him.

That momentary peace lasted but a few seconds as Jason’s phone started ringing shrilly. Excusing themselves with twin sheepish smiles, Jason rummaged through his pockets, plucking the phone from inside and pressing it to his ear upon answering the call without ever glancing away from Nico’s guarded yet calm eyes.

“Hello?”

“Jason, it is Silena. Great news! The apartment is now yours, and they are willing to give you a long lease,” Silena greeted cheerfully from the other side of the line, and Nico vaguely registered of her identity despite not being able to decipher their conversation at that moment.

“How long lease?” Jason inquired, frowning.

“Really long. I’m going to send it over, and I will talk to you tomorrow,” Silena casually responded, and her tone indicated clearly that she was about to drop the call in a matter of seconds.

“Wait. Why are they giving me a long lease now?” Jason followed, his frown deepening.

“The tenant who apparently has been in a vegetative state for three months now, the poor guy, will have his plug pulled come tomorrow. Family decision and all– “

That was all that Jason needed to hear as he promptly dropped the call, his complexion seeming to pale considerably under the Italian’s scrutiny. Nico could not blame him though. Had he been a tangible being instead of what he was now – a soon-to-be permanent apparition – he would have long paled at the implications of that long lease. Nico might not have heard of this Silena lady’s response, but the implications were enough for him to arrive to one logical conclusion: Bianca was cutting off his life support.

“We have to talk to your sister,” was all Jason blurted after a while upon gaining his composure, his fingers firmly clenching onto the mobile phone in his grasp.

“Why? What are you going to say to her?” Nico inquired in a low voice, laced with an inquisitive note.

“That’s where you are going to be helping me. Tell me something about her that will let convince her that I can see you when worse comes to worst.”

“… On grade school, she pulled a stupid stunt on her best friend, Zoe Nightshade, that resulted to her being suspended for about a few weeks. Mentos and a cola-filled mouth. You can guess what happened.”

“What else?”

A pause.

“… She’s lactose intolerant?”

A long sigh.

“The only way this is going to work is if I could tell her something that only you – her beloved and sole blood brother – knows; something she has never and will never share with anyone else but you. Something intimate. Something  _so_  personal,” Jason explained, placing emphasis on Nico’s position in her life and of the information he needed from him.

Jason was never one to engage unto impromptu actions, nor had he guessed that he would ever indulge in one. Yet, he figured that Nico was changing that little by little, and he did not mind it one bit despite how the pretend-doctor stunt had him drowning on too much adrenaline. But that was what made Nico’s existence in Jason’s life so refreshing. Nico had him feel alive; a feeling he had forgotten in more than two years.

“Oh… Oh! She French-kissed her ex-boyfriend PJ five minutes before her wedding,” Nico blurted out, standing up straight as he snapped his fingers sharply, oblivious to Jason’s musings.

“… Let me rephrase myself then. The only way this is going to work is if I could tell her something that only you know, which won’t result with a knife getting impaled to my chest,” Jason offered, a nervous chuckle escaping past his lips.

But Nico did not acknowledge that despite being aware of it. Flashing the former landscape architect a victorious smirk, Nico leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

“No, Jason. This would work. She has  _never_  mentioned that to anyone else. Now mush, Watson,” Nico concluded, an amused smile curling his lips.

Jason could not find it in himself to argue, not if it meant getting to see that smile etched onto the young male’s features much longer.

 

* * *

 

“So how did you know Nico? You must have worked together. Gods know he doesn’t date anybody,” was the slightly amused remark.

Upon providing Jason with the details of his sister’s residence, they rode Jason’s Black Escalade SUV towards the family’s house, which Jason had to agree was that stereotypical presentation of a dream house within white picket fence. It was completely homey and oozing of hospitality, and it was in some sense a setting which Jason could envision being raised from. Yet, the contrast of how lavish Nico’s apartment was compared to the ambience of the house would state otherwise.

“Everyone likes to rub that one in,” Nico grumbled at his sister’s comment, which had Jason biting on his lower lip to prevent a chuckle from escaping past his lips.

Just as the blond male was about to respond, twin squeals resonated throughout the house, followed by the rush of heavy patters of feet. Soon, a pair of young girls, aged seven and five, of contrasting facial features emerged from the hallways, chasing after each other and completely oblivious to the presence of the adults.

“Maria and Hazel? My nieces are here? They are supposed to be in school,” Nico thought out loud, a frown creasing his forehead.

The Italian man shifted his gaze back and forth the older child of black hair and warm dark brown irises, whom Jason presumed as Maria, and the younger child of curly cinnamon-brown hair and eyes eerily the shade of gold, whom Jason presumed as Hazel. Maria almost seemed like a splitting image of Nico’s sister, so Hazel must take in after their father instead.

“Would you like some tea, sir?” Maria stepped up, grasping the hem of Jason’s jacket as she spoke in a playful British accent.

“I… I guess. Thank you, madam,” Jason stumbled slightly as he was dragged towards a small table near the kitchen counter where a small tea set was diligently set up.

“You’re freaking Bianca out,” Nico voiced out, but he took his seat opposite Maria and beside Hazel. From his peripheral vision, he swore he could see Hazel gazing at his direction.

Indeed, Nico’s sister was scrutinizing him critically, there seeming to be caution that was evident in her eyes as she observed the exchange between her eldest and the blond male.

“I’m sorry, you were about to say?” Bianca politely inquired, allowing a small yet professional smile rest upon her lips as she addressed to Jason.

“Lie. Lie your butt off,” Nico instructed.

“We worked together—”

“No!”

“Uh, no. I mean we worked together… on my illness. I was a patient of his,” Jason amended, trying not to wince when Nico commented of his lack of credibility to be a doctor.  “I was sick. I had a meningitis. Spinal meningitis.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry,” Bianca apologized, and her expression and tone seemed utterly sincere.

“Spinal meningitis? That’s not even a disease,” Nico scoffed, snorting thereafter, but there was sheer amusement in his eyes as the barest hint of red dusted Jason’s cheeks, clearly due to embarrassment of what he had said.

“Oh, no. It is okay, I am much better now. Nico, he… he believed that I would recover when nobody else did. And… I did recover,” Jason offered with a small smile that slowly became natural as he observed the unmistakable fondness in Bianca’s eyes as Jason spoke fondly of her brother.

“That sounds just like him. Nico has always been misunderstood outside of his profession. I am glad he managed to befriend you,” Bianca replied earnestly and with a smile, but that smile soon slipped from her features as they slowly contorted to confusion. “But… why are you telling me this?”

“I just know about his situation and… I just wanted to ask you – to beg you, actually – to give him a little bit more time. He’s going to pull through this thing. I just know it,” Jason explained, his tone firm and oozing of high conviction.

Nico had to wonder where his sudden devotion of preserving Nico’s life emerged from. At that point of time, Nico had figured that he would be the one adamant on stating that his life was not over yet. Yet, it was Jason – the guy whom he annoyed relentlessly since day one, and had been convincing that he was dead since then – that was fighting for his chance to live when he was at the brink of just throwing everything away and completely giving up.

“That’s really sweet of you to say, but… it’s already too late,” Bianca murmured in a hushed tone, forcing a small smile to rest upon her lips, but it was too pained to even pass as a smile.

Tears pooled onto his sister’s eyes, and Nico could only imagine what her family must have been through in the duration of his vegetative state. Nico could only imagine how painful it was for his sister to observe him day by day, clinging blindly onto false hope and pretenses of his brain activity increasing, and of him waking up in conclusion.

“I already signed the papers. We’re terminating life support tomorrow. At noon. When the kids are in school. The past three months have been so hard on them and this whole family,” Bianca finished, wiping a tear that managed to slip past her eyes.

“I understand that, I really do, but I think you are making a great mistake here –“

“It’s for the best. Really. This is what Nico wanted. I spent my whole life thinking that I know what was best for him. This is the last thing that Nico wanted, and for the first time in my life, I will respect his wishes,” Bianca responded firmly, cutting off whatever Jason was going to say.

“Bianca…”

Nico was certain that the situation had to be the most excruciating blow for Bianca. Throughout their life, Nico and Bianca had always been the anchor of each other. It was how they survived when their mother died, and when their father basically neglected their existence since then and had remarried another woman. If their position had been reversed, Nico might as well be handling the situation worse than his sister. Bianca had always possessed a stronger will between the two of them, and if Bianca was barely hanging on at this point, Nico would have been worse.

“Okay. This is going to sound strange to you, but…” Jason started, snapping Nico from his musings.

The change of tone immediately indicated to Nico what Jason was contemplating of saying.

“No. No, no, no,” Nico chanted, casting a look of disbelief at the older male.

“The truth is Nico’s right here with us right now. He’s standing here next to you, and he’s begging for you to wait,” Jason went straight to the point.

Leaving his sister alone was one guilt. Nico did not need another guilt by sending Jason to a mental asylum.

“Right next to me?” Bianca slowly repeated his words, pausing dramatically on every word.

Her features were contorted in an expression that was unfathomable to either male.

“Jason, stop.”

“No, let me do this,” Jason chastised Nico, casting him a brief glance which Bianca followed. “I don’t know how or why, but I can see your brother’s spirit. I know it’s crazy, but I can talk to him. So… why don’t I have him explain the whole thing to you, and I’ll… translate.”

At this point, Nico was convinced that Bianca was ready to throw the blond male out of her house had he been in her place instead. Jason did not help at all with the manner by which he worded things, making him sound like a ghost whisperer instead. How often does a person meet a self-proclaimed medium who persistently insist on seeing your sibling’s spirit? None, unless the person was a nut-job case. So when Bianca only seemed to stare at Jason with that unfathomable expression etched onto her features while assessing Jason heavily under her scrutiny, Nico was confused.

“… Can you just hold on? Just a second,” Bianca blurted out after a while, walking past Jason as she approached her children.

“Who wants to play Princess Anna and Queen Elsa?” Bianca cheerily questioned her children, as she carefully ushered them to the next room.

“Did that just happen? Did that just work?” Nico inquired, wide eyes blinking in surprise.

“See, we can convince your sister,” Jason replied, a smug expression crossing his features as he turned his back on the woman and turned to face Nico instead.

“We need to get her straight to the hospital, rip those papers off, and – Holy –!“ Whatever Nico was about to say was cut-off immediately as he stared past Jason with wide eyes.

Jason would rather not have the pleasure of knowing what had just occurred, but he did so as when he faced Bianca, he noticed the woman’s tense and defensive posture by the counter. With a meat cleaver on her hands pointed at Jason.

“Get out of my house!” Bianca bellowed, brandishing the knife, despite the erratic trembling of her hands.

Jason immediately backed up to the cupboard, pressing his entire body against it as he gazed with fear and disbelief at the Italian woman.

“Wait! I’m not making this up! Why would I?” Jason tried to reason, holding his hands up defensively.

“Bianca, just calm down. Calm down!” Nico shouted, raising his arms defensively as well, but his sister could not see him at all. He turned to Jason. “Tell her about PJ.”

“I know about PJ,” Jason then blurted out, comically pointing an accusatory finger at the Italian woman.

For a second, those erratic trembles stopped, and there was evident surprise etched onto her features.

“What?”

“I know what you did with PJ at your wedding, and I’ll tell everybody.”

In retrospect, Jason should probably stopped when he stated that he knew of what occurred. But the imminent threat of having a meat cleaver impaled onto his body had him impulsively blurt out the threat.

As soon as he registered what he said, coupled with the expression of utter disbelief and horror on Nico’s face, Jason raced towards the door, followed by an enraged Bianca di Angelo who brandished the meat cleaver at his direction.

“How did you know that? Nobody knows that! Get out of here!”

Jason bolted out in a split second without even sparing a backward glance, the whooshing sounds as the blade was swung serving well its purpose of reminding him not to look back. Nico would not blame him for it, as he could not blame her for not believing some random guy who claimed to see the spirit of her almost dead brother.

Nico observed his sister for a few more seconds, watching as her features contort from anger, to relief, to somber, then finally to devastation just as she closed the front door of her family’s house.

It was probably the last time he would ever step foot onto his sister’s humble abode, Nico figured as he slowly stepped down the small flight of stairs and walked down the small pathway that led to the community park where he had seen Jason head for in his mad dash to get out of the vicinity of the house.

Under normal circumstances, Nico would have laughed of the situation, of how epic it was to watch his sister brandish a meat cleaver at a random guy she just met. But the circumstances then were far too unamusing at that point, for him and for her.

Upon reaching the park, Nico immediately noticed Jason underneath the shade of a tree, leaning heavily against the tree trunk as he struggled to catch his breath. How Nico managed to notice where he was immediately despite the crowd, Nico could only deduce that it was due to the vibrancy of the older male’s blond locks.

“… I don’t think your sister is a very spiritual person,” Jason panted once he had stepped close enough, and exhaustion was evident in his voice.

“She’s just trying to be a good mom, keeping her kids away from crazy guys. Keeping her family safe,” Nico offered with a half-amused smile that did not reach his eyes, and which Jason noted. “We should… head back now. It’s over, Jason. There’s nothing else we can do.”

“It’s not over, di Angelo. If I could just convince those in the hospital—your friends… Reyna! Maybe she would believe. Or Will,” Jason offered, and Nico vaguely registered that Jason was  _pleading_  to him at that point.

For what reason, Nico knew not of.

“Jason, just stop. No one will believe you. They will put you in a strait jacket once you tell them that I’m still here. To them, I’m dead,” Nico explained with a sigh, and there was a dejected expression in his features.

This, convincing Jason that enough was enough, was becoming a tiring routine. To Jason, being convinced by Nico each and every time that it was a useless effort – that they were out of time – had the former landscape architect struggling to convince Nico di Angelo otherwise.

These, everything, was all too familiar to Jason, in a different scene that was of a tragedy two years down in the past. There was anguish gnawing at his chest once more; there was that escalating desperation. There was that sense of hopelessness of being unable to do anything. But the situation now was different. With Piper, it had all been instantaneous. With Nico, it dragged on. Piper’s death was a clean break. Nico’s, however, was much excruciating to bear.

“You just—I just—I can’t let you die. And you just can’t die, Nico,” Jason concluded as he straightened himself, murmuring his response to the younger male as he was once again reminded that they were out in the public.

“Jason—“

“Look, everything is all connected. Why would I live in your apartment? Why am I the only one capable of seeing you? Why was I there when that guy in the restaurant collapsed? Everything is connected for a reason, Nico. Everything is attached to you,” Jason reasoned insistently, but Nico was not budging from his stand that everything was all over.

“You shouldn’t get too attached to a dying man, Jason,” Nico responded in a serious tone, gazing directly onto those deep electric blue eyes.

“Your advice came a little too late, Nico,” was the response, along with a shake of the older male’s head. “I’m already attached, and no matter what you say, I will do whatever it takes to get you back to your body.”

“Why?”

 _Indeed, why_? Jason had to question himself as he met the younger male’s inquisitive gaze head-on. But, he was well aware of the answer with regards to that question.

If there was anyone who was dead, it was Jason – or at least he  _had_  been until he met Nico. With Nico’s presence, Jason slowly eased himself into learning how to live life once more. To  _actually_  live it and not for the sheer purpose of existing for another day.

There were a lot of reasons that Jason could offer; reasons which then passed through his mind in a brief flash.

_Because your eyes are the darkest and deepest, yet most captivating shade of brown that I have ever laid my eyes upon –_

_Because you have that natural and honest smile that just tells me that I can trust you with my life –_

_Because you have a dark sense of humor, but it’s completely you and I like that you don’t try to hide that –_

_Because you make me feel alive in a way that I have forgotten in two years –_

_Because I love –_

“I just have to,” Jason offered, carefully wrapping his arms in a loose hug around the younger male, parts of his arms barely passing through the younger male’s intangible frame.

To any prying eyes, he might as well have been standing awkwardly with his arms questionable outstretched to form a circle. Yet, that mattered little to Jason at the moment; much less than it did to Nico as the latter stared up at him with unmasked surprise.

It was foolish, and it had Jason seem utterly ridiculous, yet Nico chose not to move from his spot inside the circle of Jason’s arms. As much as it was ridiculous as their bodies could never come into contact with one another, Nico allowed for his eyes to slide close, and rested his forehead – or at least it was the illusion that was provided – against the older male’s shoulder.

There was no contact; no warmth. But neither of them at that moment could say that this was not their temporary haven. For that moment, it did not matter that Nico was dying or that Jason was bound to be alone once more. What mattered then was that Jason, at the very least, got to be with Nico until come noon the following day, and that Nico was by with him for as long as time allowed for his presence to last.

* * *

 

.

.

.

_Continua_


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Look, the last thing I want to do is scare you,” Jason murmured once Nico did not respond for a good couple of seconds. “Goodbye, Nico.”
> 
> As Jason began to walk away, that inner turmoil within the younger male began acting up once again, along with that a feeling of familiarity when Jason addressed him by his name. It sounded natural hearing his name fall from Jason’s tongue, as if the blond male was actually supposed to say his name. Jason’s voice and Jason’s name… They sounded like home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys have yet to watch the actual movie and happened to read this, then please don’t watch the movie yet. /sweatdrops/ If you have, please do not push your expectations high.
> 
> This work will contain up to 5 chapters only.
> 
> This work is both available on my tumblr and fanfiction account.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and its characters for they belong to Rick Riordan.

_“I would beg on my knees for all eternity if that would make you stay.”_

* * *

Jason’s life had been nothing short of a series of devastation and disappointment where instances of happiness and satisfaction were fleeting. At a young age, Jason Grace was well certain that the stereotypical image of a happy and content family was but a distant dream on the back of his mind. In that environment wherein he had to adapt to the changes brought in by his so-called  _mother_  so as to have him live up to his strict father’s legacy, Jason was but a hollow of a child. His sister, Thalia Grace, was the first person to ever breathe life onto his hollow chest, and was the first that had ever coerced him onto taking the matter of his life onto his own hands. He had felt freedom; he knew contentment. But, Thalia – whom he had thought would be that constant in his life – left.

Then, Piper McLean was introduced to his life. Jason had never known the concept of love before meeting with the mesmerizing woman of a Cherokee descent. Piper was a breath of fresh air, much more than Thalia, surprisingly. She was the embodiment of complete and utter freedom, living only by her own jurisdiction. They were almost complete opposites, but Piper understood Jason better than anyone else had in the entirety of his life. Jason loved her – still does – dearly. But, Piper – whom he had thought would be that constant in his life as he had hoped Thalia was supposed to – left him under unprecedented and devastating circumstances.

It was supposed to stop at that point – hoping relentlessly that someone would permanently remain by his side, only to have themselves or fate rip them away from him. Jason was at that point of accepting that his bleak life would forever remain painted with those dull and monochromatic colors.

Then, Nico di Angelo was introduced to his life.

Nico di Angelo, in the time that Jason had gotten to know him, was not one to request selfish demands. The previous night had been a fleeting moment of eternity, if Jason were to label it. They had talked and talked into the late hours of the night, and Jason had fallen asleep at some point during their conversation with dreams filled of nothing but the image of the younger male’s small and natural smiles.

Waking up in the morning was what Jason dreaded most at that moment once he felt his consciousness tugging. Would Nico still be by his side when he open his eyes? That was the question that ran through his head countless of times as he slowly forced his eyes to open, blinking several times to adjust them to the lighting of the room.

Empty. The other side of his bed was empty. Just as his chest was at that moment. It was numb; completely and utterly numb, but there was that familiar sensation buzzing on his chest which indicated of the imminent pain that was to follow in a short while.

Nico was gone, and that should make Jason happy since that was what he had wanted in the very first instance that he met the Italian male. Yet, seeing his empty bedside gave him no satisfaction at all. It was like Piper all over again – a clean break. Yet, Jason was certain that it would severe him all the same, perhaps much intensely than before as there had already been a severed wound in his soul. Thalia left him. Piper left him. Now, Nico –

“Do you know that you have the tendency to drool in your sleep if you are truly exhausted?”

That voice, that low yet soft velvet-like voice had Jason sit up immediately from his bed, causing his vision to sway a tad bit and his ears to buzz. Yet, neither were enough to not have him register the blurred figure seated on his beige chaise, and the melodious, amused laughter that resounded in the room. Both of which completely dissipating the earlier numbness on his chest, only to be replaced with an overwhelming sense of relief and happiness that had Jason tense for a brief second, considering what his emotions meant. It was too dangerous; the timing was inappropriate. Accepting them at that moment would no doubt severe him beyond repair.

Once his vision cleared, electric blue eyes gazed directly onto warm dark brown irises, noting the barest hint of sadness in them which the younger male’s façade was unable to completely mask.

“You took my picture with Bianca from the hospital,” Nico stated, his tone not accusing. “I saw it on the table outside. Why, Jason?”

“I’m sorry. I just… wanted to have a picture of you,” Jason explained with a sad, sheepish smile as he glanced down at the bedsheets. “I wasn’t sure that I was ever going to see you again.”

“I loved that picture,” Nico responded, his voice so soft that it was almost as if he was talking to himself. “Bianca had me drink after receiving bad results for this one test. Margaritas. Lots and lots of margaritas.”

Jason chuckled at that, a fond expression crossing his features upon imagining a carefree Nico di Angelo drinking his sorrows away with a dozen shots of margaritas. That would explain that easy smile that stretched those full, thin lips wide, and had blown those mesmerizing brown pupils wide with unbridled happiness.

“It’s funny. The one time I completely failed at something, I had more fun than I ever had in my life,” Nico concluded, forcing Jason to look up at the younger male once again. “I saved lives; I placed them before my own, thinking I still have a  _‘later’_. And now…”

Nico was not looking at his direction as Jason had expected. Instead, Nico was staring outside the window behind his bed with the most conflicted expression, as if he was torn between anger, disappointment, and anguish above all things.

“You still have time,” Jason responded in a firm voice as he pushed the bedsheets to the side, his expression resolute. “This time, I can do something.”

Jason was sure that his plan would certainly top the list of his most idiotic ideas in his lifetime, but that was a thought that he would consider in the future. Right then, Jason had never been more certain of a decision before, consequences be damned.

“What are you talking about?” Nico questioned, warily eyeing the blond male as Jason scooted to the bottom of his bed where he had placed his shoes.

“Nico, when we first met, I kept insisting that you were dead when in actual fact, it was me that had been dead all throughout those years of my life,” Jason rambled, slightly surprised that he was sharing this to the younger male. “You brought me back, Nico. You saved me. Now, it’s my turn to save you.”

“How?”

“I’m going to steal your body,” Jason declared almost breathlessly, and the sight of Nico di Angelo’s eyes widening in such a comical manner had Jason almost laughing in amusement.

Jason did not wait for a response, making a quick dash towards the front door upon grabbing his car keys. He could not hear any indication that Nico was following him, but Jason could feel his presence as if it were a part of his senses. Meanwhile, Nico could only stare – flabbergasted – at the older male. Was Jason serious? Yes, he had to be serious, Nico thought, as the blond male walked briskly down the flight of stairs and towards his car. Yes, Jason was serious by the looks of it, but was he actually that suicidal?

“Jason, you can’t do this,” Nico found himself blurting out as he followed the male towards his car. His statement did nothing to faze the blond male’s determination.

“Why not?” Jason questioned, yet his tone lacked curiosity and seemed almost nonchalant.

“You’ll go to jail, idiot!” the Italian male exclaimed, causing Jason to pause midstep and turn around to face Nico, for once uncaring if there was anyone to notice his exchange with,  _supposedly_ , no one.

“So what? If something happens to you, do you think I will care wherever I will be? By doing this, at least I can buy us more time,” Jason responded, seeming exasperated.

 _Why would you do this for someone like me?_ Nico wanted to question him that and a whole lot more things. Nico wanted to talk him out of it, but with that adamant expression, Nico was certain that he would not win over this conversation.

Nico’s lips parted – once,  _twice_  – before anything logical escaped his lips dejectedly; in resignation.

“The things you have to know to even pull this –“

“You know them. You’ll talk me through it,” Jason cut him off, his fingers flexing repeatedly as if he could not wait to execute his suicidal plan immediately.

Nico noted everything that Jason did at that moment, from the smallest of gestures to that unwavering determination in his eyes and perhaps a little something more.  _Why, Jason?_  Nico had a lot of questions racing through his mind at that moment, yet a part of him warned him that he would regret knowing the answers to them. Instead, he focused at the task at hand, which was aiding Jason on getting his body out of the hospital.

“Okay,” Nico responded, sighing in resignation. “You’re going to need a van. And somebody with no morals.”

* * *

“What are we moving again?”

“Medical supplies,” was the curt response.

“Wait. You didn’t tell him? You have to tell him!” The Italian’s panicked voice demanded over the loud screeching of the van’s tires against the road. Those deep brown irises drifted to the figure on the passenger seat, eyeing the occupant closely and with narrowed eyes. “You know, he looks really familiar to me.”

“Maybe from one of my picture frames?” Jason offered in a whispered hiss, apparently not too low enough for his companion not to hear.

“What?”

“Nothing, Percy,” Jason responded immediately, swerving the driving wheel violently and racing it down the streets.

If Jason had taken Leo instead, the Latino might just have praised him for finally living a  _so-called_  Grand Theft Auto life. But, Jason need not the involvement of a party that was aware of the situation. Percy Jackson, one of his so-called closest friends, was ideally the next person Jason had in mind for his plan. Not because he was “ _morally inadequate_ ” as Nico had suggested he look for one earlier, but because if there was someone who would understand the gravity of the situation, it had to be Percy.

“And we are in a hurry to get these stuff because why?” Percy inquired, his sea green eyes darting everywhere at once as one of his hands gripped onto his seat like a lifeline despite the safety belt.

“There’s a one-day sale on hospital beds. I always wanted to possess one.” Percy had moments which their peers dubbed as “ _stupidity”_  but there was no way that Jason would have had him bite that lie with how unconvincing it sounded.

 _Hospital beds? Really?_  Jason had to question himself as well. If there was something he was horrible at, it was probably lying. Jason clearly saw that when Percy gave him a disbelieving look.

“You’ve got to tell him, Jason,” Nico insisted from the back as Jason slammed on the breaks upon reaching the vicinity of the hospital, simultaneously turning off the engine and stepping out of the van without a backward glance.

Jason vaguely heard of Percy quickly stepping out of the car and jogging after him, bombarding him with questions which Jason refused to acknowledge. As stealthily as he could manage, Jason sneaked into the medical supplies room which Nico pointed out, followed by the then frustrated and confused Percy Jackson.

The hospital was running at full operation, meaning that there was that least likely chance that they might be caught. But Jason was not taking any chances, briskly walking as inconspicuously as was manageable given their situation.

“Okay. Grab a cart, a blood pressure cuff, and a portable ventilator right there,” Nico instructed once they were inside, pointing at the specified objects respectively as Jason tugged them along.

“Jason? Jason, what the hell are you doing? This isn’t a sale, bro!” Percy accused, grasping firmly onto Jason’s hand just as the latter placed the portable ventilator on top of the cart.

Jason almost heaved an exasperated sigh as he turned to face his companion, noting the evident worry, frustration and confusion in them. Nico was right, _again_. Jason could not do this – this lying to his friend when he needed his help desperately at that very moment.

“Alright! I know you wouldn’t come if I told you,” Jason explained in a rush, pausing only once in a while to see if Percy understood what he was saying. “But I have to save this spirit of a boy who is in a coma upstairs, and they are about to take off his life support. And we have got to get his body someplace safe”

And Jason would have lied on the spirit part of that explanation, but Percy would not bite off of his lie if he could easily see through Jason’s words. It was easier to come clean and try to convince the raven-haired male, rather than lie, have him see through it, and eventually lose his trust.

Nico seemed to think of the same thing as well as he remained silent at the side, seeming agitated above all things, but nothing more than that. He remained as a silent observer, even as silence filled the room and as Percy stared at Jason with a look as if Jason had suddenly sprouted two heads.

“I knew you should have told him earlier,” Nico murmured, mostly to himself, after a while. But, it was loud enough for Jason to hear.

“He would not have believed me,” Jason responded with a small frown, looking past Percy’s shoulders.

“Does he believe you now?” Nico countered, and there was a ghost of a smile on his lips, no doubt from amusement, and Jason could not help but think that his amusement was inappropriate at that moment.

_Damn, Nico was always right._

“I had to get him to the hospital!” Jason grunted.

“Jason, let me take you to the psych ward. There are people up there who can help you,” Percy offered, placing a concerned hand on one of Jason’s shoulders, but the latter shrugged it off.

“There’s no time! It’s 11:30 right now! He’s going to be dead in half an hour!” Jason hissed, pleading through his eyes that Percy would listen to him just that once. “Look, Nico is standing behind you right now. He knows that this is a stretch for you.”

“Oh? Does he? Well, if he is, ask him what I am doing with my hand. Rock-paper-scissors,” Percy declared as he placed his right hand behind his back so that it would only be visible to Nico.

“Rock,” said Nico.

“Rock.” And Jason blurted it out.

“Scissors.”

“Scissors.”

By then, Percy’s features was contorting in a mixture of surprise and disbelief.

“Paper.”

“Paper.”

“Rock again.”

“Rock again.”

“… He’s flipping me off,” Nico declared after a brief pause, and he looked vaguely offended at the gesture.  _No_ , Jason thought, he looked vaguely offended at the finger that was pointed at his direction, and he seemed almost murderous at that moment; as if he wanted to cut it off.

“Are you flipping him off?” Jason inquired just to make sure, and the flustered expression that crossed his companion’s face confirmed Nico’s claim. “You’re flipping him off!”

“Okay… Okay!” Percy raised both hands in a gesture of defeat, but there were still some hints of disbelief evident on his features. Jason could understand that it was probably a lot to ask of him to understand the situation immediately, but they were pressed for time. They have to go.  _Now._  “Sometimes, people with emotional and mental disturbances can have psychic moments. Alright, but even if he was real, do you know what you are risking for this man?”

“Yes!” Jason breathed in exasperation, fingers gripping tightly onto the cart.

“Why?”

Jason wanted to avoid that question all throughout the duration of since he started helping Nico. It was absurd, it was quite an impossible thing to happen. Yet, it did. He was not even aware of when it had started, or when his emotions bloomed. He was not even aware when Nico suddenly became a possible constant on his life, or when had he decided he wanted for him to be  _that_  constant in his life.

The timing was entirely too inappropriate, but if there was some way to convince Percy that he had never been more certain of doing anything in his life, he had to say it, consequences be damned.

“… Because I love him. I love him.” Jason repeated the words a second time, placing his entire conviction to it as he offered his stunned companion an answer before he turned to look at the equally stunned Italian male. “I do, I love you so much that I can’t bear to lose you. Not when I can do something to save you.”

“No one has ever said that to me before,” was the only response he received from the younger male, voice coming out thick with emotions that Jason could not decipher as the Italian male lowered his head, his bangs covering his features completely.

Jason was not expecting an “ _I love you too”_  in return, but he was not denying that he hoped of the possibility of hearing it in return. The sheer fact that Nico did not seem repulsed by his confession would suffice, for now.

* * *

The elevator stopped on the third floor of the hospital, and Jason, Percy and Nico emerged from within, the former two adorning lab coats so as to pass for doctors. None of the nurses or doctors, even patients, seemed to mind of their presence, even as they rushed down the hallway. So far, everything was according to plan, but Jason would not count on things proceeding as smoothly as his mind intended for things to be.

“Jason, tell him I said thank you,” Nico murmured from his side, casually glancing to the frowning expression of the raven-haired male.

“Nico is really thankful, Percy,” Jason expressed  _their_  combined gratitude, and truly, he was grateful of Percy’s help.

“I’m not doing it for you, bro,” Percy grunted as they veered the cart to the right, heading towards the hospital room which Nico currently occupied.

“Then why are you helping me?”

“Because someday, trust me, you’re going to help me move a body, and when that day comes, I don’t want to be hearing anything from you.”

Jason almost questioned the instances by which that could possibly happen, but he was unable to express his inquiries vocally, choosing instead to stare at his companion with wide eyes. Percy was never one for dark humor, so either he suddenly decided to sprout such dark statements, or he was majorly pissed at Jason. Perhaps, a bit of both.

Pushing open the door of the room, they made haste on getting inside, closing it with a resounding click.

“Okay, get me on the gurney quick,” Nico instructed to Jason whom followed immediately.

“Oh my god, Jason…”

Percy’s statement caused Jason to raise his eyes for a second, settling on the stunned expression on the raven-haired male’s features as he gazed down at the Italian male. Jason frowned at what he saw on Percy’s features, finding that his close friend was somehow ogling at the younger male.

“I know, he’s beautiful, but paws off,” Jason responded firmly, not even the slightest bit disturbed of what he had said. But Nico seemed to be, as his cheeks flushed faintly at the sudden and bold compliment from the blond male.

“No, that’s not it, though he’s certainly become way hotter than I remember. Damn, look at those lips,” Percy blurted out, and the flush on Nico’s cheeks intensified at that casual comment, while Jason restrained himself from growling at his companion. “Anyway, this is  _him!_ This is the man I set you up with three months ago. This was the man you stood up that night!”

For a second, the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound that there was in the room as Jason was frozen in place, slowly registering the detail that was suddenly dropped onto him.

“I… I was going to meet Nico?” Jason inquired with a hint of uncertainty, turning to the Italian male’s spirit with wide eyes, only to have it reflected by those deep dark brown irises.

“And he wasn’t able to make it either because he had an accident!” Percy finished, his arms flailing slightly as he gestured at the unconscious male on the hospital bed.

“It was you… Is that why…?” Jason trailed off, his eyes remaining fixed on the younger male as realization dawned in them.

“I was supposed to meet you,” Nico concluded, and Jason could hear the unspoken statement in them.

_You were my unfinished business._

“How did you know him?” Jason questioned Percy, just to change the topic as Percy fiddled with the wires that surrounded the hospital bed.

“I’m friends with his sister, Bianca. We went out years ago.”

“I knew I’ve seen him before! That’s PJ!” Nico declared all of a sudden, taking a step closer to the raven-haired male as if he were a rare specimen that suddenly sprouted from his collection.

That might as well have been the case since Nico had always been preoccupied with his work to bother meeting with old acquaintances. The last time they probably had seen each other was certainly during Bianca’s wedding –  _Wait, PJ?_

“Percy is PJ?” Jason asked the Italian male who just nodded vigorously.

“Woah, wait. No one has called me that since college years,” Percy grunted, frowning at the sudden reminder of an embarrassing nickname that was previously attached to him.

“He’s older, but that is him.”

“He’s the one who tongued Bianca at the wedding?” Jason continued, going straight to the point.

“How the hell did you know that? Nobody knows that! Shit, don’t you dare tell Annabeth about that!” Percy exclaimed, his expression a twisted mixture of horror and surprise.

“It’s Nico!”

“Shit, he really is here, is he?” Percy pulled back from fiddling the wires on the bed, dropping them as he ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “Well, let’s get him on the gurney! I don’t want them killing Bianca’s younger brother!”

“Thank you,” Nico and Jason blurted out at the same time, and Jason would have said more – perhaps pestered Percy further on what he knew of Nico – but the time on the clock provided them not a single moment for any further casual comments.

Nico was silent throughout the entire ordeal, saved for when he would instruct Jason and Percy on what to do so as not to damage his body in the process of placing it atop of the gurney. Once that was accomplished, both male pushed the body out of the room. For once, Jason allowed relief to course through his system as he envisioned for things to proceed without a hitch from that point on.

Big mistake.

“Mr Grace?”

That strong, feminine voice seemed to resound loudly on the hallway, and Jason made the mistake of sparing a glance at the other end of the hallway where stunned dark brown eyes gazed onto his electric blue eyes, the woman’s expression slowly contorting to horror. Though they have only met once, those dark brown eyes, healthy olive skin, and dark hair worn in a single braid.

Bianca di Angelo. Nico’s older sister.

“Shit!” Percy cursed loudly at the sight of the woman, and Jason vaguely registered the presence of Doctor Arellano as they raced down the opposite end of the hallway; away from the stunned females.

Jason clearly heard the female doctor talk on her pager, requesting of security on their floor which pushed him to move the gurney at a faster pace. Percy seemed to catch onto the situation quickly as he unceremoniously pushed harder onto his side of the gurney, both males racing down the hallway.

On Jason’s mind, he could only think of how he should have executed this sooner, when none of the staff or Nico’s sister would be none the wiser to check upon his unconscious body.

“Don’t jostle, but go faster. Take a ramp here!” Nico shouted, keeping pace with the gurney as they turned around the corner. “Take the elevator!”

And they might have done so if a security guard had not emerged from the other end of the hallway.

“Jason, get Nico out of here quick! Find a different route!” Percy bellowed to him with a grunt as he tackled the officer onto the open elevator just as it was on the process of closing.

“Jason, there is no other way down. This is the only option we have of getting down to the first floor aside from the stairs,” Nico exclaimed as Jason pushed the gurney forward to no specific direction at all.

Jason  _almost_  saved him from dying;  _almost_  gotten him out of that fate which Bianca had decided upon her little brother without even a spare of thought to what Jason said to her just the day before. Jason was  _that_ close to saving Nico.

The alarming slowing of the rhythmic beating of Nico’s heart, as was gauged by the heart machine, was like a sudden dose of acid against Jason’s skin. For a second, as security guards circled them as they stood in the middle of the hallway, nothing registered on Jason’s mind but the gradual fading of Nico di Angelo’s spirit, and the slowing beating of the heart machine above all the noises and threats that surrounded the blond male.

“Jason, my breathing tube is gone,” Nico stated the obvious as Jason’s eyes scanned all around him, looking for that sole damned device which was ripping Nico away gradually by the second.

 _No_ , Jason thought bitterly to himself, eyes wide with realization as he stared at Nico’s devastated expression. _This is Piper all over again._

“What can I do?” Jason pleaded to the fading spirit, but Nico only shook his head, flashing a sad smile at the older male.

At that moment, of all the thoughts that could cross Jason’s head, it had to be,

_How could you smile at this moment?_

And…

_Please don’t leave me on my own again._

“It’s too late, Jason. It’s happening.”  _I’m going to die_ , was Nico’s unspoken statement.

“No! You can’t die, Nico! Stay with me.”

It was probably inappropriate that Jason chose to kiss Nico at the moment, just as it was inappropriate that he had to share his first kiss with that one person, whom made him feel alive again, on a gurney while surrounded by a bunch of security guards and hospital employees. But Jason decided that he could not come to care at that moment as he evenly breathed air into the younger male while keeping their lips sealed firmly in a gentle clasp.

Nico faintly gasped at the gesture, eyes widening the slightest bit at the warmth that pressed against the skin of his lips, and flowed past them. It was a brief exchange, a fleeting exchange.

In a split second, Jason was ripped off of the younger male, pinning him to the ground just as Nico’s heart rate flat-lined.

“Nico!” Jason shouted, looking with wide, panicked eyes at the vanishing spirit before him, who had been unintentionally tracing his fingers against his full lips, as if Jason had kissed his spirit instead.

“Jason –“

Before Nico could take a step forward, his figure completely vanished.

 _It was Piper all over again_ , Jason thought to himself as he relentlessly struggled against the restraining hands on him.  _Nico’s leaving me_. But Jason was certain that Nico leaving him would scar him a thousand times more.

For Nico was the one who patched him up; made him feel alive once more after more than two years of grieving over the death of his deceased wife. And Nico was taking his life away once more, just after healing him, dragging it out and along with the Italian male to the afterlife.  _Help him!_  His mind screamed as he glanced around, hoping that he could get his message across to them, but Bianca seemed rooted to the spot, tears already gathering in her eyes as she watched the unending straight line on the machine.

Was this what everything was supposed to lead to? Nico had to heal Jason, only to rip him apart once more? So much for being an  _unfinished_  business to Nico. Were they simply meant to meet and be torn apart in the end?

The answer that Jason received… was a resounding series of beeps.

_Beep._

_Beep._

**_Beep._ **

“What’s going on?” Bianca questioned as she shakily stepped forward, placing her hands on the railings of the gurney as the heart machine responded once more, beeping in that rhythmic pattern.

_Nico?_

“That’s not possible.”

A blond male doctor declared, his tone bordering almost to a growl, but Jason could not care at the moment who or what the man’s issue was as he shifted his body with difficulty, just enough to watch as the physical form of Nico di Angelo tremble before those eyelids shakily fluttered and parted.

Jason had hoped that he would be the first person that Nico would see if he ever were to awaken from his vegetative state. Despite the overwhelming sensation of relief and happiness that coursed through his system, the sheer fact that he was not the first for Nico to lay his eyes upon left him with a tinge of disappointment.

“Nico? Can you hear me?” Bianca breathed in a whisper, grasping one of his hands and squeezing it gently. “I can’t believe I almost let you go.”

The Italian male glanced around the hallway with dull and sleep-induced heavy eyes, taking in the familiar sight of his surroundings with an uncertain expression on his features.

“ _Fratellino?_  It’s me, Bianca,” the Italian woman voiced out to earn his attention.

“Bianca… I think an elephant sat on my head.” Nico breathed out, voice raspy and heavy with sleep, but the name – despite not being his own – did much to Jason’s heart.

This was Nico. This was  _actually_  Nico. This was Nico in flesh and alive, breathing and feeling, and  _tangible_ above all things.

Bianca spared a glance at his direction, and her sincere eyes – though wet with tears – flashed with that overwhelming gratitude that not even words alone could express. Looking pointedly at each of the security guards that held Jason down, she offered them a curt nod, followed by,

“It’s okay.”

Jason vaguely registered being released from their grasp, every inch of him honing to that conscious figure resting on the gurney. Nico was alive, actually and miraculously alive. When their eyes met, nothing could come to express the happiness and joy and relief that coursed through Jason’s system as he firmly gripped the other railing for support, as if he would collapse without having a firm grip on it.

“Hey,” Jason greeted the Italian with a small smile.

“Hello,” Nico rasped, and there was the barest hint of uncertainty in his eyes as he flashed a small, polite smile in return.

It was not the smile Nico would have usually offered. A cold feeling settled on the pit of Jason’s stomach.

“It’s me, Jason,” the blond male offered once more, the smile on his lips gradually dropping as did Nico’s.

“I’m sorry, I don’t…” Nico breathed out, his features contorting in confusion as he redirected his eyes to his sister.

“Nico, it’s Jason,” Bianca offered with a smile, using her left hand to caress the locks out of his gentle features.

The supposedly assuring gesture did nothing to smoothen the crease forming on Nico’s forehead.

“The apartment… the rooftop… the garden…” Jason offered, and when Nico’s expression did not seem to change, perhaps growing ever the more out of confusion, Jason had to wonder how the situation was any better than actually losing Nico. “Nothing?”

The fact that Nico di Angelo could not even remember spending a moment with him was like dousing him on ice cold water. The fact that Nico di Angelo could not remember the moments wherein he had allowed for his sorrows to laid bare in front of the younger male… all of him that he would never have offered to anyone else… Nico had forgotten all of them.

 _Perhaps… if I could just touch his hand_  –

Jason reached out his free hand to grasp that of Nico’s, but the Italian male pulled his hand back before Jason could even come to feel his skin and to hold that hand he had only envisioned of actually grasping once Nico was awake. When Nico lifted his eyes, wide then with agitation and panic as he pointedly looked at his sister, Jason felt as if his heart was slowly being torn apart.

Nico was alive, and Jason would be eternally grateful of that. But Nico, the Nico whom he had opened up to and had loved in the few weeks that they had gotten acquainted with each other, knew nothing of him at that moment. Jason thought that it would hurt a little less as he did not completely loss Nico. But the fact that Nico did not remember anything of him – of them – wounded Jason’s heart in a way that Piper’s death could not even come to do so.

It was worse than coming home to that empty apartment on the day which Nico chose to stay behind. It was worse than knowing that Bianca decided to pull the plug on her younger brother. It was worse than entertaining the possibility that Nico only had a few more hours to leave.

It was as if the universe was against giving Jason the happiness he had always sought for.

Taking a step back, he did not rip his eyes from the figure on the bed as the Italian was smothered with warmth in the arms of his beloved sister. Jason did not rip his eyes from Nico even as he stepped away from him.

Away from his life.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

_Two months later_

* * *

_“You are my unfinished business. We still have to settle this story; this unwritten happy ending.”_

* * *

 

Coming back to him apartment complex, for some inexplicable reason to Nico di Angelo, had him experiencing dread. The Italian male was certain that he should be feeling relief instead, coming back to his home where he would not be smothered every minute by his sister’s family, yet he felt dread instead. There was a nagging sensation on the back of his head; one that dragged him to a state of loneliness and sadness that he refused to acknowledge for as long as he could remember. It was undeniable for weeks now, and the fact that he could not pinpoint what could have possibly caused these emotions left him frustrated.

That was not all. Ever since he had been dismissed from the hospital by the frustrated (probably because he was alive) attending physician – his rival – Nico did not even feel as if it had been three months since he was active. He had considered that it was probably due to being in that vegetative state, but there were certain things in his life that challenged his theory. Like that one time on the park near his sister’s residence. For some reason, he felt drawn to that one spot by the shade of a tree, and a sense of comfort blossomed from his chest just by simply gazing at the spot. Or that one time near a bookstore where a Latino male whom he could swore he had not met his entire life, yet waved at the Italian male as if they were acquaintances. There were tons of things he simply could not come to explain, yet he was certain that it was associated to that blond male he saw on that day he was pulled back to consciousness.

Nico could still remember the devastation on the man’s features when Nico rasped out of not remembering him. Nico was inclined to say that perhaps he  _should_ , but the man disappeared from his life entirely since that day. The mere reminder of the blond male – Jason, as his sister mentioned – had his chest aching for some reason which he could not explain either. These emotions plagued him relentlessly, and ever more so upon stepping into his apartment.

“We only rented it for a month,” Bianca informed of him as he placed his bag onto one of the sofas.

But Nico was not paying attention to her words as he paced across his apartment, his expression contorting into confusion and something not even he could fathom.

“Did you move something?” Nico inquired, causing his sister to tilt her head out of curiosity.  “It’s just… I have a strange feeling that something is missing.”

“Everything is here, just as you left it,” Thanatos, Bianca’s husband, responded with a casual smile as he placed a hand onto one of his wife’s shoulders.

“I guess it had just been a long time,” Nico commented with a forced smile, one which he deemed he had to do in order to get his sister off of his back.

If Bianca were to notice his inner turmoil, he would no doubt not leave him on his own – which was what he needed at that moment. He just had to fool Bianca. Thanatos was a different issue as Nico was certain that he would never be able to fool the male. But at that moment, he needed the space to think on his own; in his isolation.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Bianca inquired, her features creasing as he pulled him into a hug.

“Yeah, I can take care of myself, Bianca.” Nico replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Thanatos must have caught on what he wanted to do as he briefly flashed him an amused smirk before sparing him from his sister’s bear hug. “I’ll see you guys on Saturday.”

After their brief exchange of goodbyes, Nico was left on his own inside the apartment, sighing to himself as he paced the spacious area. It was much… lonelier than Nico remembered, and it lacked the cosiness that Nico was certain that it used to have for him.

There was something missing on his bed, on his kitchen, even on his bathroom and living room. Yet, Nico could not fathom what they were. There was a meaning to that circular indentation on one of his coffee tables, yet the answer was once again far from Nico’s grasp. All of these had him feeling frustration, and on some sense, desperation.

There was something missing in his life. That he was certain of. But whenever he thought of it, only blond hair and mesmerizing electric blue eyes crossed his mind, and he figured relentlessly that he should not be thinking of needing the presence of an unknown man in his life.

The door that led to the rooftop was open, which kind of had Nico wondering why that was the case. Perhaps the previous tenant left it open when he or she left? Nico bothered not to delve deeper into that thought, and decided to proceed up the small flight of stairs that led to the rooftop; that one place he always head to when he needed to clear his head.

Instead of being greeted by the barren and often littered concrete ground that was of his rooftop, Nico was greeted, much to his surprise, by a garden. A marble fountain that he was fairly certain was of a Greek figure, wooden pathways which intersect at the middle where an elegant outdoor swing lounge chair was, and flowers – dozens and different arrays of fragrant and lovely flowers – bloomed in every direction that the Italian male looked.

 _Had the previous tenant done this for me?_  Nico had to question, for there was no way that anyone who planned to stay in his apartment complex would spend a  _probably_  hefty amount of fortune just for a momentary aesthetic appeal of a rooftop.

“Hi.” An oddly familiar voice cut through to his musings, and Nico turned around just in time to stare onto those mesmerizing electric blue eyes which he should not have been  _so_ familiar with.

 _Jason_ , Nico found himself thinking as the blond male emerged from the back of the garden, seeming to have been tending to a pot of plant just moments ago.

The blond male was adorning a fitting plain white long-sleeved turtle neck and cargo pants – contrasting to that of Nico’s apparel in terms of colour – that fitted him perfectly and defined his physique clearly. He had his eyes rake over the form briefly before he tore his eyes away, finding his actions inappropriate. Not that Jason noticed.

“Don’t worry, I just… wanted you to have your garden,” Jason explained as he gestured towards the garden, shifting his footing once or twice when Nico did not respond immediately.

“How did you get up here?” Nico inquired once he had regained his composure, gazing directly and intently onto the man’s eyes, as if simply looking at them would provide the Italian male all the answer he needed at that moment.

“Spare key? Under the fire extinguisher?” Though the blond male tried to mask it, Nico could clearly see that there was hope in those eyes, as if awaiting for his words to trigger something in Nico.  _Anything_.

“Look, the last thing I want to do is scare you,” Jason murmured once Nico did not respond for a good couple of seconds. “Goodbye, Nico.”

As Jason began to walk away, that inner turmoil within the younger male began acting up once again, along with that a feeling of familiarity when Jason addressed him by his name. It sounded natural hearing his name fall from Jason’s tongue, as if the blond male was actually supposed to say his name. Jason’s voice and Jason’s name… They sounded like home.

“Wait,” Nico breathed loud enough for the blond male to hear, and Jason did stop. “T… The key. I need the key back.”

Nico almost cursed himself for saying such a thing, but his mind was completely blank at that moment, and he just had to say whatever crossed his mind first.

“Oh. Right,” Jason offered him a smile as he rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a key before he approached Nico, stopping only a mere foot in front of the younger male.

In that proximity, Nico could somehow feel Jason’s warmth, and the sense of familiarity bloomed in his chest once more, easing that discomfort he had been experiencing for the past few months. Was Jason feeling the same sense of comfort as he did at that moment? But when Nico chanced a look at the older male, he was met with the softest and most sincere smile he had ever seen, and looking onto Jason’s eyes, Nico could not see anything but himself in it.

“How do I know you?” Nico found himself asking, to which Jason responded with a shrug.

“Maybe from your dreams?” Jason offered just as Nico lifted his hand to take the key.

The moment that their palms pressed against each other, Nico finally understood why. And for the life of him, he was torn between punching Jason on the face or pulling him close just to finally,  _finally_ , feel his warmth around him. Everything came back to him in that instant, and Nico was certain that it was quite an impossible feat, yet it was as if some divine intervention was playing with them. Nico remembered their banters when they first met. Nico remembered Jason’s attempt to rid of him by asking pretend ghostbusters. Nico remembered Jason’s agreement to aid him on finding out who he was. Nico remembered Jason pressing his lips to his forehead as he bid Nico goodbye at that hospital. Nico remembered how Jason collapsed from adrenaline after tending to that man on the restaurant. Nico remembered how the death of Jason’s wife killed Jason from the inside. Nico remembered the garden which Jason took him to see. Nico remembered how Bianca was that close to butchering Jason. Nico remembered Jason holding him at the park. Nico remembered Jason’s confession at the medical supplies room. Nico remembered Jason’s kiss. Nico remembered Jason.

“It wasn’t a dream,” Nico found himself blurting out instead.

“No,” Jason answered, and that was the only answer he was able to say.

In an instant, they pulled each other close and desperately pressed their lips in a chaste kiss. It was brief, too brief, but at that moment, Nico could only think “ _finally”_. Finally, he could feel Jason’s warmth against his own, could taste and feel Jason’s skin and lips against his. Jason tasted like  _home_ , and at that moment, it was the only thing that actually made sense at that moment.

“You’re an idiot. A really, really huge idiot,” Nico growled once they parted, their foreheads pressing against each other.

And Nico could not even force himself to stay mad a second longer when Jason heaved out a chuckle, followed by a relieved sigh as he pulled Nico closer to him, their chests pressing against each other.

“I know. I know,” Jason murmured, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I needed you to remember on your own. I did not want to force myself to you.”

“You’re still an idiot,” Nico replied, tugging the man closer. “The biggest idiot after Percy.”

“Wow, I feel happy enough that I did not take his throne,” Jason laughed, leaning down to press kisses onto the younger male’s lips. “I love you, Nico. I love you so much.”

“I really want to punch you right now, you know that,” Nico breathed, pausing when Jason would press his lips against his. Every single kiss was electrifying, and Nico could not fathom of how he would ever tire of it. “You’re not going anywhere again, are you?”

“Not unless you want me to go. Even then, I don’t think I can let you go again,” Jason answered honestly. “Will you stay with me?”

_Will you be that constant in my life?_

The deep kiss that was pressed against Jason’s lips was the answer he had long coveted for all his life. Maybe Nico had not vocalized his response or his feelings for Jason, but in that moment where they were wrapped around nothing but each other, Jason was certain what Nico’s response would have been.

_Yes. I love you too._

_._

_._

_._

_Finisce L’amore_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have come to the end of this story. Thank you for reading and I hope you like this last chapter! :)


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